MLI/ARG - Argentina end preliminary round on good note

TOULOUSE (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Argentina turned their recent fortunes around with a 75-49 victory over Mali, but it was too little too late as they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The result saw Argentina finish Group B of the Preliminary Round with a 2-3 mark and Mali 0-5.

The two teams will go to Rodez and play in the Classification Round, which begins on Friday.

Mali’s M’Bamakan Kanouté opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Argentina quickly overtook them – despite the absence of Fanta Guindo who was injured on Tuesday – and led 17-12 after at the end of the first quarter.

Eduardo Pinto’s side took advantage of Mali’s numerous turnovers to score easy baskets and go up 41-22 at the interval.

Mali did have their moments when they were a pleasure to watch, but their passing was not crisp enough and allowed Argentina to pull away further, going up 56-35 to end the third period.

The Malians had a 9-0 run early in the final frame, but Argentina had a sizable enough lead not to be concerned.

Quotes

Eduardo Pinto (Argentina head coach): We won but we are sad because we finish in fifth place, despite our great game against Belgium. We could have done better. It’s a pity. We will prepare to play for the ninth place. It will be better than nothing.

Sidiya Oumarou (Mali head coach): Honestly, we didn’t expect to lose by such a big difference. We thought Argentina had more or less the same technical and tactical level as us. We have the smallest and youngest players of the group and this is one reason that explains our difficulties. Six of our best players stayed in Africa to compete in the African Nation Cup as it remains a priority for our country as we currently hold the title. We will keep on working.

FIBA/LOC