ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - The Women's AfroBasket record title holders, Senegal, responded to their shocking defeat at the hands of Uganda on the final day of the Group Phase with a dominant display against Rwanda, storming the quarterfinals with an 80-37 outcome.
The Senegalese had a strong first half, leaving little room for Rwanda to cause an upset. Rwanda exited the competition winless.
Destiney Philoxy and Keisha Hampton scored in the opening minute of the second quarter. Bella Murekatete added her only contribution of the first half: a free throw. This brought the score to 20-11 and revived the East Africans' comeback hopes, but only momentarily.
In the remaining eight minutes, only Stephanie Irakoze scored for Rwanda, with three-pointers on either side of the period. With little improvement after halftime, their fate was sealed, and they went on to lose by 43.
TURNING POINT: Rwanda was hit hard in the opening quarter, falling behind 20-6 as Senegal's defense proved impenetrable. The West Africans continued their dominance in the second quarter, stopping Rwanda in their tracks for a 40-17 lead at halftime.
With no response from Rwanda in the second half, Senegal cruised to the large victory. .
HERO: Coach Otis Hughley Jr. had rotated his entire squad in the opening half with all but two contributing to the 23-point advantage. After 40, all 12 players contributed at least a basket, four hitting double digits in a match where Nene Awa Ndiaye top scored with 12.
STATS DON'T LIE: 21 turnovers to hand Senegal 23 points in the opening half was probably Rwanda's biggest undoing. In the end, they conceded 40 points off 38 turnovers as Rwanda managed 6 points off the opponent's 15.
The Senegalese took care of business on the paint for a 50-14 show ( 22-2 at halftime), an unsurprising number as Rwanda struggled to get the ball to Murekatete who is lethal below the basket, relying on outside shots.
The West Africans protected and shared the ball better picking 20 steals and as many assists against the 2023 semifinalist's 7 and 10 respectively. The benched came up with a 45-13 score line.
BOTTOM LINE: Coach Cheikh Sarr could not find a winning formula against his countrymen and Rwanda exit the competition winless, a stark contrast from their 2023 run as hosts where they posted their best result yet, reaching the Last Four.
Meanwhile, Senegal's journey takes a turn after enjoying the support of the crown today, as they face the hosts in the quarterfinals, a side that remains unbeaten and will enjoy the support of a sold out 3,500-seater arena.
WHA THEY SAID: “We played terribly; we haven’t been playing like ourselves at all during this tournament. But we're going to go home, reflect, and try to do better for everyone. We improved as a team this year. We're going home to regroup and be the team you saw in the last tournament because this was not us at all.” – Rwanda forward Hope Butera.
"What you just saw was definitely the team bouncing back. We came together as a whole team and worked on what we needed to learn from the loss. There are some losses we don’t want to take, but there are also losses that teach us. We showed our improvement today.
"I am excited to face the home team. They’ll come with a lot of energy as the host team, and we like that. We are excited to have a lot of Senegalese fans in Ivory Coast. We have the potential to beat the host team. – Senegal point guard Cierra Dillard.
FIBA