MFM Queens suffer second defeat at FIBA Women’s Basketball League Africa
Olaolu Joseph
Nigeria Women’s Basketball League champions, MFM Queens are not finding their feet at the 2024 FIBA Africa Women’s Basketball League Africa going on in Dakar, Senegal.
MFM lost their opening games at the championship. First they went down to Egyptian heavyweight Al Ahly 99-49. 27-16, 29-07, 21-10 and 22-16 before they crumbled under the weight of home ladies, ASC Ville de Dakar in the second 81-50.
Just like in the first outing, MFM Queens Basketball failed to win a single quarter, 23-10, 19-12, 18-15 and 21-13.
Home side ASC Ville de Dakar shot 31-of-66 on field-goals, including five trebles and 14/23 on free-throws to pick a commanding 81-50 victory against MFM, subjecting the latter to their second defeat while putting themselves in prime position for a quartet’s place.
Elisabeth Dabou played her best basketball yet in this competition to lead her side to victory, dropping 19 points and 14 rebounds. She added six assists, a steal and a block to her tally for 34 in efficiency, the highest so far.
Moustapha Gaye, ASC’s head coach says the plan was to play hard from the get-go and run the scores early, assumingly to avoid a situation like they had in the opening match that ended 57-54, coming from behind against FAP.
“It was not an easy game but we had set out to win with the knockout matches in mind. Both sides had their runs. We put crucial stops to two of their best players and were able to pick a comfortable win. Regardless, we still have some rough edges we need to work on before playing Al Ahly Sporting in the final group match,” coach Gaye said.
His opposite, Joy Ochuko blamed her side’s lackluster defense for all their troubles. “It wasn’t the best game for us. Nothing worked offensively and on defense, we didn’t come to play, we allowed a lot of easy points. We will have to work on our rebounding, contesting shots and just play better defense for a chance to win.”
Meanwhile, the defending champions Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) came into the 2024 WBLA on the back of two unbeaten African title runs, winning their first game in this year’s competition 65-49 against Friends Basketball Association (FBA) from Côte d’Ivoire.
The defending champions, however suffered their first defeat in the competition to CNSS of the Democratic Republic of Congo by a narrow margin, 61-59. 16-16, 09-20, 18-13 and 18-10 in Group B.
Four of Friends Basketball Association (FBA) players managed double digits on points.
Sarah Berthé leads the way with 14 points, and the other three players dropped 10 points apiece as the Lémou Benga-coached side took the star-studded APR by surprise for a 63-55 win.
In Sunday’s last game, Egypt champions Al Ahly SC extended their winning streak, beating Caneroon’s FAP 89-63.
