CAIRO (Egypt) - Senegalese champions ASC Ville de Dakar and Armee Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) closed out Group Phase action at the 2025 Women's Basketball League Africa with wins to take the top two places in Group C. ASCD secured their third consecutive victory in an 88-45 showdown against debutants Bravehearts, finishing top of the group unbeaten.
Meanwhile, the reigning bronze medallists APR, who lost their opening game to the Senegalese team, finished with a record of 2–1 after rallying to beat Congo DR's CNSS 89–66.
Find below a look back at Wednesday's only two games.
Matharu threatens 2025 record as ASCD go 3-0
American point guard Aliyah Matharu, on debut in the continental showpiece, continued to dominate for her side, shooting 12-for-26 from the field, including two from deep in ten attempts, while converting seven from the charity stripe for 33 points. Her tally came a point shy of Kayana Traylor's (REG) record of 34 in the side's 81-53 victory over Friend's Basketball Association on Tuesday. She added 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
As Matharu dominated offensively, Ndoumbe Mbodj and Mame Khoudia Fall dominated the boards with 18 and 15 respectively, the latter shooting 8-for-10 in the paint to complete the winner's only double-double with 17 points. Fall, the only other player to hit double digits on points, added 6 block and 4 steals to her incredible show on the basket to finish with 35 in efficiency rating. Mbodj was a point short of a double-double. Aliyah Matharu, speaking after the victory, said: "The game was as good as it could be as we were playing a team we are not on the same level and that's always hard to lock in on the small details as everyone gets carried away, wanting to win the game by themselves. In the second half we did a much better job of playing together and not letting their momentum change what we were doing." Asked about missing out on the scoring record, she offered: "I blame myself for missing a couple of free throws (3) as that's free money right there. But I wasn't even aware and wasn't looking to break any record." Ahead of the quarters, despite fielding a relatively young squad, Matharu added: "It's all about how a team prepares. We have all been excited to come here and show that we deserve to be here playing with the best. All we can do is focus on ourselves and not get carried away by what other teams are doing. We focus on what the coaches tell us and that wins games."
Yacine Diop's double-double pulls APR to victory
APR overcame a second quarter slump that allowed CNSS to come threateningly close at halftime (36-32), to dominate the second half for a convincing 23-point (89-66) victory, qualifying for the quarter finals as the second best team in Group C. Yacine Diop, for the second match in a row, led the Rwandese side to victory, emerging as the top scorer with a 9-for-12 shooting including two from range for 24 points, while completing a double-double with 11 rebounds, 10 on defense. She added three assists and as many steals for 34 in efficiency rating.
Meanwhile, three-time WNBA champion Kiersten Bell hit her first double digits in three matches, emerging as APR's second best scorer with 18 off a 5-for-14 shooting that included 3 from deep. She added 8 rebounds and 4 blocks to the day's performance but six turnovers hurt her rating to finish with 12. Three other players, Italee Lucas, Kamba Yoro Diakite and Assouma Uwizeye scored in double digits, the latter dropping 12, coming a rebound shy of a double-double as the duo settled for 14 a piece. Rwandese power forward Uwizeye, on the floor for just under 34 minutes, said: "We are happy to have won the way we did. CNSS are good team and they helped us prepare for the quarter finals as they fight hard. We have picked crucial pointers from this game, most important being our transition defense and ball handling. We have to take care of the ball better and also rebound better in the knockouts." Meanwhile, Diop who admits the squad couldn't figure out what was not working in the second quarter, said: "The second quarter was really bad, we had too many turnovers but we knew we could play better and that's what we did in the second half. Moving forward, however, we know we can't play like this as we face better teams on both ends of the court and what happened today cannot repeat itself of we want to make it to the championship game and win."
FIBA