Senegal won the last of their titles in 2015 but reached the final in 2017 and 2019 and were expected to see off Uganda comfortably in their Group C opener at the BK Arena in the Rwandan capital.

But Uganda, who were comprehensively defeated by Mali yesterday, pulled off a superb performance to stun Senegal.

The match was locked at 81-81 with 30 seconds remaining before Lydia Babirye stepped up to the plate, landing one of her two free throws.

Babirye then scored a driving lay-up before converting another free throw for a 85-81 lead.

Senegal hit back with a two-pointer from Cierra Janay Dillard but Uganda saw out the remaining seconds for a memorable victory.

Jannon Otto and Jane Asinde were the star performers for Uganda, scoring 21 and 20 points respectively, while Senegal’s Aya Traore topped scored with 29 points.

"Senegal is a good team but there are rules and we needed to follow them, so we stayed disciplined and that is the outcome today," said Asinde.

"We respected them, but we didn’t fear them.

"It was a very competitive game, and we kept on playing until the last minute."

Mozambique also bounced back from an opening-day defeat to register their first victory in Group B.

Fewer than 24 hours after losing to Cameroon, Mozambique swept aside Guinea 99-40.

Leia Dongue was the star of the show, amassing 25 points and five rebounds, while Ingvild Mucauro and Chanaya Pinto weighed in with 13 points each.

Egypt got their campaign underway with a 89-78 triumph against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group D.

Nadine Mohamed was in sensational form, notching 34 points for her best showing in national colours.

There were also strong contributions for the two-time champions from Meral Abdelgawad and Raneem Elgadawy, who notched 16 and 15 points respectively.

The final match of the day saw Ivory Coast defeat Angola 72-69 in Group A.

Djefarima Diawara led the scoring, registering a game-high 17 points as Ivory Coast responded to their opening-day defeat to hosts Rwanda yesterday.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow, with Guinea facing Cameroon in Group B, Egypt meeting three-time defending champions Nigeria in Group D, Angola taking on Rwanda in Group A and Senegal tackling Mali in Group C.