Angola came into the qualifier for the quarterfinals of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket against Guinea as overwhelming favourites.
However, the first half and fourth quarter of the encounter at the BK Arena on Tuesday afternoon suggested otherwise as Guinea made a good account of themselves and advanced to the quarterfinals following a 71-69 win.
The West Africans made the Angolans work for every point as they edged the opening two quarters 17-15 and 16-15 respectively for a 3-point (33-30) lead at the long break.
Masseny Kaba easily glided to the basket and used her size to cause Angola trouble in the paint. She finished the game with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists.
Angola improved in the third quarter, particularly defensively and Guinea started to have some real struggles scoring the basketball from the field. As Guinea went through a scoring drought, Angola found some rhythm and took charge of the game finishing the third quarter leading by 6 points (52-46).
Sara Caetano who finished the game with 19 points and Cristina Matiquite (team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds) led the way for Angola during the stretch.
Angola took the lead into double figures early in the fourth quarter but Guinea never fell far behind in the contest. Kaba, Aicha Mara, Fatoumata Jallow and Khady Mbaye scored some important points and the West African rallied back.
Kaba was near perfect from the line in the fourth quarter and punished Angolawith every trip. She gave Guinea a 70-69 with just under a minute to play but Angola missed a couple of layups on their next two possessions before Kaba iced the game on the line with 4 seconds on the clock.
Aicha Mara had 11 points while Fatoumata Jallow and Fatou Bah contributed 9 points apiece in the victory.
