DAKAR (Senegal) – Four of the eight teams qualified for the quarter-finals have been named after five days of competition in the Women’s Basketball League Africa (WBLA) 2024 at the Marius Ndiaye Arena in Dakar, Senegal.
In Group A, Al Ahly SC survived a first-half onslaught from home side ASC Ville de Dakar to remain undefeated and head into the quarter-finals at the top of the group, while Ivorians of Frien’s Basketball Association (FBA) surprised the CNSS and qualified automatically.
Here is how the meetings of Groups A and B took place.
Group A
Al Ahly Sporting defeats ASC Ville de Dakar and remains undefeated
Ndioma Kané
The chants and dances of ASC Ville de Dakar supporters that rang out at the Marius Ndiaye Arena could have shaken Al Ahly Sporting Club at the start of their match against the hosts, but Tarek Abouzied’s charges remained calm and won the match 61-46.
This victory allows Al Ahly SC to qualify for the quarter-finals as the best team in the group with six points, after a faultless run.
“It was a difficult match. The atmosphere created by the fans disturbed us and we started the match badly. We weren’t ready for it, but after the first half we played as a team and we pulled together. “Let’s support each other to achieve this victory,” said Raneem Elgedawy.
A 9-2 run in the first half of the third quarter got the better of the host team. The two teams exchanged the lead seven times, with eight ties in the first half, with Moustapha Gaye’s team leading 12-9 in the first quarter before returning to the locker room with a score of 30-28.
It was one of them, Senegalese Ndioma Kané, 25, who led the attack for the Egyptians, finishing with a total of 27 points and 14 rebounds (including only one in attack).
“There are things that we cannot control, like Fatou Diagne who took two fouls at the start of the match, which affected our game plan,” said coach Gaye of the pivot who is doubtful for the next match, since she left the game limping after a bad fall in the third quarter. “Things didn’t work out for us in the third quarter and the players lost confidence. However, it was a game of positioning and nothing is lost yet. We will pull ourselves together for the next game which will be crucial .”
FAP survives MFM attacks and remains third
The Cameroonians of FAP won their first victory in the WBLA 2024, beating the Nigerians of MFM.
In a two-part match, the Cameroonians from FAP held on to win 62-60 against the MFM Queens of Nigeria who made a comeback at the end of the match while both teams were looking for a first victory.
The FAP, led by Ange Majolie, got off to a good start (22-12, 17-16), but Joy Ochuko’s players came back into the match by scoring 20-11 in the last quarter. The match was decided in the last 45 seconds after Wandoo Marvis Hembam equalized at 60.
“The group stage was difficult, with matches against ASC Ville de Dakar, Al Ahly and MFM Queens. We knew that no match was given and that we had to fight and that’s what we got done today,” said Olympic athlete Adebola Adeyeye.
Breanna Campbell’s free throws made the difference, as AfroBasket U18 star Idubamo Beggi was unable to score the basket that could have snatched victory from the Majolie players. However, she finished with the best score of hers, with 16 points.
Ionna McKenzie, present on the court for 29 minutes, was the FAP’s top scorer with 16 points, four more than Kelya Kipo, the other revelation of AfroBasket U18. McKenzie added 11 rebounds to complete her double-double, while Kipo grabbed nine rebounds and made four assists to become the team’s second-best player in efficiency with 18 points. McKenzie leads with 21.
“A win is a win, whatever the score. We lacked a bit of experience, especially in the second half, but I’m happy that we got this win. We lacked composure and we will have to work on this point,” said coach Majolie.
Group B
The FBA takes over the CNSS to qualify
Debutants from Friends Basketball Association (FBA) were the first team from Group B to secure a place in the knockout stage, beating last year’s quarter-finalists Congolaises from CNSS, 65-43to end the group stage with a 2-1 record.
The Ivorians of FBA finished their journey in Group B with a record of 2-1.
Lémou Benga’s protégés led from the first kickoff, destroying any chance of a CNSS comeback with a 21-12 third quarter to bring the advantage to 18 points until the final straight, where they won by 22 points.
“I am happy with this victory. Coming in, we knew that CNSS had good marking abilities and we had a plan to stop them, hence this convincing victory. Aggression is our trademark and we have it “We used to return everything the team threw at us to win,” Benga told FIBA.basketball.
Both teams were coming off victories against pre-competition group favorites APR and CNSS, but the latter were a pale shadow of the team that had inflicted defending champions Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) on their first defeat in three editions.
Koko Ade’s charges were outscored in all key areas, with Benga outscoring the Congolese 53 to 38 rebounds (19-13 on offense), 13 to 3 on second chance points, 18 to 8 points in counter-attack, from 23 to 11 on ball losses, from 35 to 14 coming off the bench and from 34 to 18 in the racket.
“They took us by surprise,” admitted coach Ade. “They were aggressive and that forced us to lose a lot of balls. They disrupted our game, forcing us to play their game and we couldn’t recover in time. As the championship continues , we will have to make adjustments, as this match highlighted many areas for improvement.
The defending champions suffer their second consecutive loss
APR – Sporting
In the last match of the day, Sporting Alexandria, defending champion, lost 74-72 against the APR of Rwanda, and therefore finished in last place in Group B.
Two-time WNBA champion Kierstan Bell finally lived up to expectations by hitting 5 of 9 shots from distance and scoring 27 points against the defending champions to lead APR to a 74-72 victory and qualify as the second-best team in the Group B.
“It was a double-take game and I did everything I could to help the team win. We trusted each other and played together, hitting our shots and grabbing our rebounds, and we’re happy to win,” said Kierstan Bell.
The match saw 19 lead changes and 12 ties, ending in the final 25 seconds. Italee Lucas’ lay up gave the Rwandan team the victory. Lianna Tillman missed a shot with three seconds remaining in the match.
Although the defending champions dominated the racket 42-26, they could do nothing against the trio Kierstan Bell, Italee Lucas and Shaina Pellington, who accumulated 58 points, the other 16 being the work of captain Charlotte Umugwaneza (9) and Kamba Yoro Diakite (7).
“It was a tough loss. We had a slow start and we didn’t expect that. We tried to come back in the second half but it didn’t work,” said Hala Elshaarawy.
FIBA
