MONROVIA, Liberia – Day 3 marked the end of the group stage of the Women’s Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Zone 3 qualifiers in Monrovia, Liberia.
The semi-finalists have emerged: Friends Basketball Association (FBA) will face Energie Basket in the first game and Customs will face MFM in the second.
Among the three teams in group A, FBA from Côte d’Ivoire with 4 points in 2 matches and MFM from Nigeria with 3 points in as many matches were eliminated and Invincible Eleven was eliminated.
In group B, Nigeria Customs leads the way with a 3-0 record and is followed by Energie Basket, champion of Benin, with a 2-1 record.
The Ivorians from SOA (1-2) and the Liberians from Commissioners were eliminated.
Here’s how things went down at Samuel Kayon Doe Arena on Thursday.
Energy sends SOA to the mat
This very important match, during which SOA was eliminated with a score of 84-43started slowly, with both teams failing to find the basket in the first three minutes, until Afetse Elisabeth opened the scoring with a 3-pointer that set the tone for a dramatic game.
She finished the match with 20 points to her credit.
Although SOA found its rhythm to take the advantage in the first quarter (17-14), the resumption of the second quarter saw Énergie contain its flow and take control of the match which ended on the score 20-7. The third and fourth quarters were no different as they ended at 29-10 and 21-9 respectively.
The Benin champions forced SOA into 23 turnovers in the match which saw Kondoh Aishatou score 21 points, Doumbia Counbia add 17 and Arouna Nassarath register a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds for his team.
Société Omnisport de L’Armée (SOA) had no player finish the match in double figures, with their top scorer being Ehounou Marina with 8 points, which ended their dream of participating in the final phase in Dakar on next month.
Customs win by default and qualify
The Nigeria Customs players practically took a walk in the park by winning 80-18 against the champions of Liberia, the Commissioners Basketball club.
Unfortunately, the game ended in a foul in the fourth quarter, with seven of the eight Commissioners players committing fouls early in the fourth quarter.
FBA confirms its place in the semi-finals
Invincible Eleven had nowhere to run for their final Group A match as their efforts to win the consolation were cut short by a second defeat.
FBA has established itself 111-29 to take the lead of the group (2-0) and qualify for the semi-finals against Energie on Saturday.
During this one-sided encounter, the Invincible Eleven were forced to lose 40 balls and committed 23 fouls.
The FBA, under the direction of coach Lemou Pape Benga, did not hesitate to increase the game actions against the Liberia team.
Berthe Saran was her team’s top scorer with 21 points, while the trio Konate Aminata 19, Tounkara Djelika 17, Sangare Makoro 16 and Savadogo Aminata combined for 86 points.
The Invincible Eleven players were all held under 10 baskets, with Angela Koinah being the best with 8 points.
FIBA
