CAIRO (Egypt) - ASC Ville de Dakar are through to the semi-finals of the 2025 Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) after a dominant 68-48 show against Rwanda Energy Group (REG).
They became the second team to make the Last Four after reigning champions Ferroviario de Maputo.
There's nothing more we can do as long as we give 110 percent - Aliyah Matharu
Aliyah Matharu, who has been indispensable for the Senegalese champions, on offense, throughout the competition and center Alimata Coulibaly, led Moustapha Gaye's charges to victory.
The pair combined for 38 points, more than half of their team's tally. The American shooting guard shot 9-for-18 from the floor, including two in six attempts from deep to finish as the side's top scorer with 21. She added four rebounds, on defense, for 14 in efficiency rating. Meanwhile, Malian national Coulibaly was the only player to hit a double-double in the game, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds for an efficiency of 20.
Aminata Ndong's performance could also not go unnoticed as she led the assist charts, providing 8 crucial ones while pulling down 7 rebounds and scoring as many in the win.
Matharu, after the victory, said: "The coaches have been helping us to stay focused on defense. He wanted us to feed the post more and that's what we have done the last two games. We also moved the ball well and found the open player while making a collective effort on defense."
Asked how they managed to limit REG's top performers but for Kayana Traylor who finished with a game-high 22, Matharu offered: "We knew she can score the ball well and can knock down threes and we wanted to make that hard for her. As for the others, we just came out ahead with a good defensive mindset. "
Ahead of the semis, she said: "We are taking it game by game, focusing on what we can control, which is defense and playing our best. As long as we keep that mentality I don't think we will have any problems. There's nothing more we can do as long as we give 110 percent and that's what we are trying to do."
FIBA