Nigeria dominant, Madagascar consolidate second place in Group A

ANTANANARIVO (2015 FIBA Africa U16 Women's Championship) - Nigeria and Madagascar have finished the first round of the 2015 FIBA Africa U16 Women's Championship as leaders of Group A while both Mozambique and Angola recorded their second victories in three games.

Nigeria continued their Group A dominance, beating Morocco 42-26.

The Nigerians capitalised on Morocco's turnovers, scoring 19 points off of them and 22 points inside their paint.

Rita James had 11 points in the winning cause, while Moroccan Rkia Mouharrar led all scorers with 14 points.

Nigeria, therefore, finish the preliminary phase as the top team in Group A and will face the team that finish fourth in Group B in Friday's Quarter-Finals.

Meanwhile, Angola had no trouble in beating Rwanda 81-44.

Hampered early in the game by the zone defense practiced by the Rwandans, Angola got out on the fastbreak (38 points) to defeat their opponent of the day.

Angola led the first two quarters 18-12 and 17-10, respectively, to reach the half time, up 35-22.

The Angolans used a 21-10 run in the third quarter and the gap widened in the final quarter to 25-12.

Valeriana Cacolama Moxi of Angola finished as the game's top scorer with 18 points. Her teammates Denise Pascoal da Silva and Regina Maria Pequeno added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Angola will play their final game of preliminary round against Mozambique on Wednesday, while Rwanda will face defending champions Mali.

Madagascar outlasted Egypt to take a 70-65 victory in a close contest.

Dominated in the paint, the Malagasy relied on mid-range shots to come away winners.

The Egyptian started the game leading the first quarter 22-17 and headed into the locker room at halftime with a 35-32 edge.

The home side improved its defense in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 20-13 to take a 52-48 lead and held on after a highly-competitive final period.

Madagascar finished second in Group A behind Nigeria and will face the team that finishes third in Group B.

Chanaya Pinto had 24 points and 12 rebounds in leading Mozambique to a 66-62 win over Tunisia. 

The Mozambicans made the difference in the first half, leading the first and second quarters respectively 16-12 and 19-14.

Tunisia gave everything they had in the second half, winning the last two quarters 18-17 and 18-14, but just fell short.

Go to http://u16madagascar2015.fibaafrica.com/index.php/en for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Africa Women's U16 Championship.

FIBA