Mali pulled off the first stunner of the Women’s Basketball World Cup by shocking Spain ٨٢-٧٣ on Saturday.
It was only the second win ever in tournament history for the African country, who beat Senegal in overtime in ٢٠١٠.
Mali was down two at the half, but outscored Spain ٣١-١٩ in the third quarter to take the lead. Mali went on a ١٦-٤ run in that period after it was down ٤٥-٤٤ to take command. Sika Kone, who finished with ١٩ points, had two three-pointers during that game-changing run. Kone, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, also had ١٠ rebounds.
Mali (١-١) scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including another ٣-pointer by Kone, to put the game away as Spain could get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Djeneba N’Diaye also had ١٩ points for Mali, which is ٢-١٠ in their World Cup history.
Iyana Martin scored ٢٠ points for Spain (١-١), who were one of the top teams in the world.
Hungary hold off Nigeria for first World Cup win in ٢٨ years
Dorka Juhasz had ١٩ points and ١٦ rebounds to help Hungary edge Nigeria ٧١-٦٧.
Nigeria (٠-٢) were down ٦٦-٥٢ with ٣:٥٧ left before getting within two with ٣ seconds left on Elizabeth Balogun’s basket. Nigeria fouled Reka Lelik with just over a second left and she calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the win.
It was Hungary’s first victory since ١٩٩٨ when the team topped China in the quarterfinals. Now they’ll play Korea next to close out pool play.
Virag Takacs-Kiss added ١٧ points for Hungary (١-١). Juhasz, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, had ١٣ points and ١١ rebounds in the first half.
Amy Okonkwo scored ١٧ points to lead Nigeria, which finishes off pool play against France.
Other games on Saturday were Germany against Japan and France playing Korea.
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