Action continued on the second day of the 2023 Women’s Afrobasket in Kigali, Rwanda, as two-time winners Egypt handed the Democratic Republic of Congo their second defeat of the tournament.
The North Africans won 89-78 at the BK Arena thanks to an impressive performance from Nadine Mohamed, who led all scorers with 34 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists. The 25-year-old guard shot 14-of-24 from the field, 3-of-8 from the three-point line, and converted three of her five free throw attempts.
Meral Abdelgawad (16 points) and Raneem Elgedawy (15 points) combined for 31 points and contributed hugely to Egypt’s victory, with the latter adding 14 rebounds and 5 assists.
Mariana Muadi came off the bench to lead all DR Congo scorers with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals, with Cecile Nyoka adding 19 points. Despite two straight defeats, the Leopards have qualified for the round of 16.
Mozambique bounced back from their opening-day loss to Cameroon on Friday by annihilating Guinea 99-40 in what is the biggest win margin in the tournament so far, and go top of group B with three points.
Leia Dongue’s 25 points led all scorers, while Ingvild Mucauro and Chanaya Pinto both added 13 apiece as Mozambique finished the game with five scorers in double-figures, while Nilza Chiziane and Tamara Seda added 11 rebounds and 12 rebounds, respectively, to finish with double-doubles.
Fatoumata Jallow led Guinea with 19 points, and Masseny Kaba was next in line with 9 points for the disappointing West Africans, who had five players finish scoreless, a big contrast to their Mozambican counterparts.
In Group C, Uganda moved to the top of the standings by edging eleven-time winners Senegal 85-83 to immediately bounce back from their defeat at the hands of Mali.
Jannon Jaye Otto (21 points) and Jane Asinde (20 points) led Uganda, while Aya Traore (29 points) and Cierra Janay Dillard (21 points) were the leaders for Senegal, which began their tournament with a defeat.
In the final game of the day, Cote d’Ivoire defeated two-time winners Angola 72-69 to go top of Group A. Djefarima Diawara scored 21 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 steals for the West Africans, while Sara Caetano led the Angolans with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
