Mali on course with win against Senegal

CAIRO (Egypt) - Defending champions Mali picked their second win at the ongoing FIBA U18 Women's African Championship when they beat Senegal 61-37 in the round-robin competition at the Cairo Stadium. 

The West African derby started off on a high note with Senegal leading the first quarter 13-10 but Mali responded with a full court press that forced the Senegal side into turnovers that Mali converted on the other end of the court to lead 28-21.

Mali established a double digit lead 46-32 at the end of the third quarter and did not look back thereafter limiting Senegal to just five points in the last quarter. 

Sissoko has been crucial for Mali

Alima Kouyate once again put up a player-of-the-match performance picking 20 rebounds, 14 points and four steals to inspire Mali to this very important victory. 

Diarrah Issa Sissoko netted 16 points, made eight assists and recorded seven rebounds as Mali reminded everyone why they have won seven record titles at this competition. 

For Mali head coach Amadou Bamba, "We came here to win the tournament and that is what we are doing. We want to win every game and so far so good. We played well today and showed that we are a quality team. Now, we must continue like this and achieve our objective."

Khadija Faye scored 10 points and picked eight rebounds for Senegal

His counterpart Ousmane Diallo admitted that his side could not match the Malians. He said, "This is the first time we are coming to this competition since 2012. That is a long time but we are here to learn and we shall continue doing that."

The three participating teams hosts Egypt, Mali and Senegal will play a round-robin tournament twice and the top two teams will qualify for the final. 

FIBA