Angola open Women's Afrobasket title defence with stuttering win over Senegal in repeat of 2013 final

Angola came from behind to beat Senegal on the opening day of the 2015 Women's Afrobasket ©FIBA

Angola survived a scare in the opening match of their Women’s Afrobasket title defence as they came from behind to beat Senegal in a low-scoring contest on the first day of the event in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The Senegalese side, who were out to avenge the defeat they suffered at the hands of Angola in the final two years ago, led for the majority of the match until Felizarda Jorge‘s three-pointer late on turned the tide in favour of the 2013 champions.

Jorge’s basket from distance helped Angola seize the initiative as they moved 46-43 in front, the first time they had held the upper hand in the match, before they went on to see out a 50-46 victory in Group B.

Ten-times Women’s Afrobasket champions Senegal had led by 13 points during the third quarter but were unable to find a winning formula despite the best efforts of Astou Traore, who finished with a game-high personal tally of 15.

Jorge proved to be the star performer for Angola, coming off the bench to net a hat-trick of three pointers, with Nacissela Mauricio leading the scoring charts for her side with 11.

The result saw Angola stretch their unbeaten run at the tournament to 15 matches after they also won the 2011 edition of the biennial event.

Elsewhere on a busy first day of action, 2007 victors Mali showed why they are one of the favourites to take gold as they thrashed a hapless South Africa 69-27 in Group A.

2007 champions Mali produced a confident display on their way to a comfortable victory over South Africa ©FIBA

Kankou Coulibaly’s 11 points, 10 of which were scored in the first half, helped the Western Africans to a trouble-free start to their pursuit of a second Women’s Afrobasket crown as the South Africans proved no match for their attacking prowess.

Hosts Cameroon delighted the decent-size crowd inside the Palace de Sports venue by recording a 68-54 success over Mozambique in Group A, while Egypt won the battle of the North African teams, sweeping aside Algeria 96-55 thanks largely to Soraia Deghady’s 22-point haul in Group B.

In the tournament opener, Gabon got off to a winning start as they proved too strong for Uganda, emerging with a commanding 70-39 triumph.

The competition in Yaounde continues tomorrow with Nigeria’s clash with Angola set to be the pick of the day’s contests.