MONROVIA (Liberia) - Tense moments greeted Game-day 2 of matches of the Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Zone 3 Qualifiers in Liberia where Nigeria champions MFM suffered a shocking defeat by their Cote d'Ivoire Friends Basketball Association (FBA).
The next matches will decide which teams will play in the Semi-Finals.
This is how the matches turned out at the arena.
Commissioners mauled again, Customs record second win
For a second day running, host team Commissioners Female Basketball Association conceded a second loss in as many games. This time they fell 84-26 to Energie Basket Club of Benin.
The Commissioners, which had only eight players at the disposal of Coach Moses Simpson owing to clearance issues, could not contain Energie in all four quarters of the game.
Energie, with one win and one loss from two games, did not leave anything to chance in ensuring that they took a full advantage of the situation with no less than four players recording double digits.
Afetse Elisabeth poured in a game-high 22 points, Arouna Nassarath 17 points, Kandoh Aishatou 15 points and Diallo Mariem 22 points did enough to establish a wide margin while Ellen Johnson for Commissioners led the floor for her team with 20 points to her credit.
Customs sweat over SOA to get second win
Nigeria Customs team had a hard time surviving the pressure of SOA in a keenly contested game of Group B which ended 66-59 and put the battle of vice champions of Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire to rest.
With the win, the Nigeria Customs team are one game away from securing a Semi-Final berth.
The inclusion of their two American imports Tynice Martin and Kourtney Perry proved helpful as they combined for 26 points -14 points and 12 points respectively despite arriving late and having just one practice session.
Though, Mololuwa Tewogbade scored 19 points, her performance was the defining moment for Customs.
The first quarter advantage of 24-18 was just what Customs needed to remain afloat as SOA dominated the other three quarters of the game 26-16, 18-14 and 15-12.
While Customs look for a third straight win on Thursday against Commissioners, SOA will be needing a win against Energie to join Customs if they must progress. SOA will rely on Konan Emmanuelle, Ehounou Marina and Sangare Bai for victory.
FBA throw Group A open
Cote d'Ivoire national league champions Friends Basketball Association (FBA) had a convincing start to their campaign recording a win over MFM of Nigeria 66-53 to throw open Group A.
Powered by team Captain Tolo Grace, FBA who scored 17 points to lead her team to victory.
Tounkara Djelika added 13 points followed by Konate Aminata who contributed 12 points while MFM's Idubamo Beggi led the floor for the team with 16 points to put the coach Ochuko Okorogun Lawal into a reality check.
The win opens up the group for MFM, FBA and Invincible Eleven.
FIBA