DAKAR (Senegal) - Day Four of the 2024 Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) had Group C teams get back to action after a day's break with Rwanda Energy Group (REG) getting back to winning ways as former African champions Ferroviario de Maputo made it 2-0.
Here's how Monday's actions unfolded:
Ines Nezerwa powers REG to first victory
Julian Martinez's REG recovered from a slow first quarter start against DR Congo's ASB Makomeno for a convincing 83-51 victory that puts them 1-1 heading to the last group match.
The side lost their opening match 78-74 to Ferroviario de Maputo. Ines Nezerwa, who has proven to be a crucial addition for the Rwandese champions who finished fourth in last year's competition, dominated the side's numbers on both ends of the court.
She dropped 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while adding six steals, and dished out two assists and as many blocks to lead the side to victory in a match they trailed 13-12 after the opening quarter. "We finally found a tempo. It is easy when the other team lets you do it but we brought the energy. This is the kind of basketball we like and want to play. The important thing now is to keep doing it. The new players are now gelling with the rest. It is a process as we haven't been together for long, but we are now on the same page," REG Head Coach Julian Martinez said of the win. Rosine Micomyiza and Odile Tetero's back-to-back treys in the opening minutes of the second stanza changed the game in favour of REG, helping them find their rhythm as they went on to dominate, despite the opening quarter witnessing seven lead changes.
Micomyiza top scored for the side with 17, going 5-of- 8 from range. Destiny Promise Philoxy was the third player to hit double digits on points with 13. "The important thing was to play together. While I feel like we can do much more, the second half we were pressing and we got easy baskets from it. Our defensive intensity also got better," REG's Aminata Ly said. "We did well in the first but lack of consistency in the second quarter changed the game and affected how we executed the rest of the match," said Zimbabwean Dorcas Marondera who scored 13 points for ASB Makomeno.
Ferroviario get the better of home side Jeanne D'Arc
Mozambique's Ferroviario de Maputo trounced wild card beneficiaries Jeanne D'Arc 64-30 in Monday's second and last game to remain undefeated in Group C.
The "Locomotivas" are one of the two teams - alongside Al Ahly SC - heading to the last day of Group Phase's action with a perfect 2-0 mark.
Destiny Pitts, 2023 champion with Alexandria Sporting, combined with Ingvild Mucauro for 23, the former scoring 12 in a match that Sale's charges struggled to break the home side's defense on the paint in the second and third quarters.
Ferroviario's bench made all the difference, contributing 33 in the win as the side dominated the second chance points 22-05, fast breaks 11-06 and points off turnovers 18-10.
The win leaves the 2018, 2019 African champions at the helm of Group C on four points, almost assured of a place in the knockout stages.
"We had a good game and we need to keep our consistency especially offensively. Our second quarter was not good but we played better in the second half. The Senegalese side had a height advantage on us but we still out rebounded them on both ends of the court which I must congratulate my players for. This is just the group phase and we will handle each match at a time as we look to go all the way," coach Nasir Salé.
"We hadn't prepared for this competition but still had some positives from this game. We made a lot of mistakes, our turnovers being the biggest problem as the opponent took full advantage of them. We did our best and will take lessons from this and prepare to come back stronger," Anthioumane Ly, head coach Jeanne D'Arc.
FIBA