Mali clinch fifth place, Gabon come in seventh

YAOUNDE (AfroBasket Women 2015) -  Mali on Saturday closed out their AfroBasket Women 2015 campaign with a 69-68 win over Mozambique to finish fifth in the tournament.  

It was Mali's second win over Mozambique following a 57-52 Group A victory.

Although Mozambique entered the final quarter leading by one, Aissata Maiga's layup with 19 seconds remaining changed the course of the game, sinking the Southern Africans to the sixth-place.

Deolinda Ngulela paced Mozambique with game-highs 20 points and nine assists, while Kankou Coulibaly and Naignouma Coulibaly - the only Malians to score in double digits - combined for 32 Mali points. 

The Mozambicans looked to be in control of the contest, leading 68-64 with a minute left, but Mali were not prepared to concede their third defeat in the competition. Kankou hit her third three-pointer of the game with 55 seconds left, relaunching Mali into the game.

Then, Maiga did the rest as Mali return home with a 6-2 mark, while Nasir Sale's team finish with a 4-4 mark.

Earlier in the day, Geraldine Robert's Gabon rallied from a third quarter 13-point deficit, beating Egypt 71-67.

Once again, Robert came up with big numbers to finish with 29 points and 15 rebounds as Gabon closed out their AfroBasket Women 2015 appearance with an encouraging 3-5 record. 

FIBA