PRETORIA (South Africa) - Holders Mali picked an easy win in a one-sided encounter against debutants Zambia but Angola were made to sweat for victory by another debutant in Morocco.
Here's how the two matches unfolded:
No test for Mali in victory over Zambia
For context on just how dominant Mali were against winless Zambia in their second group B matches, the holders had scored as many points as the opponent would the entire match, in the opening three minutes of their clash.
Diakite Sory's Mali played for a 136-13 victory, the biggest win in the tournament so far, to take the lead in the group.
Mali raced to a 16-0 start before Katongo Chabela scored for Zambia, one of two baskets, the other scored way down the quarter by Taonga Shanzi, the side's top scorer with 6, as the holders took the quarter 38-04.
Things only went further downhill for Zambia who were restricted to a 31-2 second quarter. The final half ended in quarters of 29-6, 38-1, a humbling defeat for the newbies.
Eight of Mali's players bagged double digits in points, Oummou Koumare leading the charge with 24 in just over 23 minutes on the floor. Oumou Dabo added 20 to the tally, completing her double-double with 10 rebounds.
Mali complete their group matches against debutants Morocco on Monday 9 September, while Zambia play Angola to determine which sides move to the knockout stages.
Angola hold their own against relentless Morocco
A second and third quarter dominance for Angola, in their group B clash against hard-fighting Morocco saw them win 74-62.
The North Africans trailed 26-23 before Angola exploded to identical 20-11 scores in the second and third, carrying a 66-45 advantage to the final stanza. Morocco attempted a comeback ouscoring Angola 17-8 in the last quarter, but it was too little too late.
Daniela Gongo was a menace that Morocco just couldn't find a way to stop as she top scored with 25, Ana Servico and Ketcha Nganga added 11 and 10 to Angola's win.
Coach Thami Senouni's charges had Eiza Louveton leading their campaign against the bronze medalists with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds as Lina Masrour added 12 in the loss.
With the victory, Angola head to their last group match against Zambia in second place, and are hoping Mali put a stop to Morocco's charge as they do their job against the Southern Africans for a chance at automatic qualification.
FIBA