DAKAR (Senegal) - Former African champions Ferroviario de Maputo are heading to the Final of the 2024 Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) after coming from behind to stun star-studded APR 86-71 in a second half show of resilience and basketball masterclass.
It was a game of two halves, the Rwandese side leading the opening one 51-33 but had no response to Destiny Pitts and Ingvild Mucauro led comeback, taking in 53 points in 20 minutes while scoring 21 for the loss. Ferroviario's 14 steals, in a match that Anabela Cossa dropped eight treys, did APR in.
TURNING POINT: A 22-point lead in the opening half for APR meant little when they allowed Ferroviario to go on a 30-15 run in the third quarter to cut their deficit to three with meticulous defending and efficiency on the basket.
Three steals in the opening two minutes of the last quarter for Ferroviario leading to a 10-0 run changed the game on its head, giving the Mozambicans a 73-66 lead and there was no looking back.
HERO: Anabela Cossa's 31 points in 29 minutes after shooting 8-of-14 from behind the arc deserved the standing ovation the side received from the fans that had cheered them on in their comeback.
Destiny Pitts scored three treys as well in crucial moments of the second half to propel the side to victory but the duo's offense came off top defensive stops by Mucauro who accumulated seven steals and as many assists in the run.
STATS DON'T LIE: Coach Charles Mushumba admitted a 20-0 domination off the bench was the winning statistic for Ferroviario, but the Rwandese were also dominated 32-16 on the paint, 19-2 on second chance points in the loss.
Ferroviario also managed to shut down APR's shooting on threes, Italee Lucas and Kierstan Bell's exit after fouling out helping Ferroviario's cause as well.
BOTTOM LINE: The Mozambique women are one win away from lifting a third African title with Ingvild who was named MVP the last time they won keen to deliver yet another silverware for her side.
THEY SAID: "We did not have a good start but we tried to keep APR close. We made adjustments on defense at half time, stopped their perimeter shooting while also improving our offense to take the lead and hold on for victory.
"I am happy my players stayed confident and fought to come back. Now that we are in the Final, we know it will be a different game and the approach will be different. We, however will take our rest and come back prepared for Al Ahly," Ferroviario de Maputo head coach Nasir Salé.
"They had a deeper bench and our two best players fouling out in a crucial moment made it tough to fight for victory. We get good numbers from treys but in the second half they managed to shut us out with their defense and we couldn't adjust in time. It is a tough loss but we have to switch focus to the third place match that will not be easy either as we play against the home team," Charles Mushumba, head coach APR.
FIBA