ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - After an absence of six years at continental level, the First Bank Basketball Club of Nigeria made a strong comeback by winning the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Women's Basketball League Africa Qualifiers in Abidjan on Saturday night, thus qualifying for the Final Round in Egypt.
They are joined by the host team, the Friends Basketball Association (FBA), who are making a second conservative return to the Final Round.
Here's a look back at Sunday's events in Abidjan.
First Bank crowned Zone 3 champions
The First Bank Elephant Girls have been crowned champions of the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Women's Basketball League Africa Qualifiers with a perfect 3-0 record.
They defeated the hosts, the Ivorian champions Friends Basketball Association (FBA), 63–59 in the final qualifier.
FBA started the game strongly, taking a 26-10 lead in the first quarter, but faltered in the second as First Bank regrouped to win the quarter 24-11.
They maintained their dominance in the third quarter with a score of 15–9, and sealed the victory with a score of 14–13.
First Bank's Daphne Olugbagho amassed 11 points, one rebound and one assist in 12 minutes and 12 seconds on the floor, as Coach Julie Negedu insisted on ball sharing and coordinated defence.
Abigail Isaac added 10 points and 3 rebounds, and the duo of Wandoo Hembam and Momoluwa Tewogbade contributed 9 points apiece. The bench recorded 39/8 in a game that saw seven lead changes.
Despite Zykera Rice of FBA posting 21 points in the game with an efficiency rate of 24, it was not enough for FBA to earn a second win.
Although FBA finished with a 1–2 record, the same as Energie and CSA, the champions of Côte d'Ivoire finished in second place, ahead of Energie and CSA.
CSA upsets Energie
CSA Treichville saved their best until last, registering a shock 57–48 win over Energie Basketball Club of Cotonou. The Benin champions obviously thought it would be an easy win, given that they had previously beaten FBA, a superior side to CSA.
Secondly, a comfortable opening-quarter score of 21–10 further gave Énergie false confidence that they would easily secure a second win.
However, CSA came back with more energy and determination to win the second quarter by a wide margin of 29–10, despite trailing by nine points at half-time.
After the break, Energie struggled to regain control of the game, managing only a 9–8 score at the end of the third quarter.
However, CSA dominated the last quarter, grinding out a 10–8 win and ensuring their only victory in the qualifiers through the efforts of Ndeye Sène, Hannah Mabella, and Aissata Dieng.
Mabella scored a game-high 16 points, had 7 rebounds, and provided 3 assists. Ndeye Sene added 11 points and 2 rebounds, and provided 3 assists.
Andreas Komyagou contributed 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
For Energie, Aku Afetsu scored 11 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and provided 4 assists. Nassarath Mama scored 8 points and had 11 rebounds. Although Veronica Keita scored seven points and grabbed an impressive 17 rebounds, it was not enough for Energie to hold out.
CSA ended the Zone 3 qualifiers with a 1–2 record, the same as Energie.
Final standings for the 2025 WBLA Qualifiers for Zone 3 teams:
1.First Bank (Nigeria) (3-0) 2. Friends Basketball Association (Cote d'Ivoire) (1-2) 3. Energie (Benin) (1-2) 4. CSA (Cote d'Ivoire) (1-2)
FIBA