Mali stun Spain for historic Women's World Cup win
Sika Kone scored 19 points and Djeneba N'Diaye added 19 as Mali rallied from a halftime deficit to upset Spain 82-73.
Mali beat Spain 82-73 on Saturday for only the second win in the country's Women's Basketball World Cup history, and the first since it edged Senegal in overtime back in 2010.
Spain led by two at half-time. Mali turned the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Spaniards 31-19, including a 16-4 run after trailing 45-44. Sika Kone hit two three-pointers in that spell.
Kone, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Mali opened the fourth quarter with the first five points, Kone adding another three-pointer, and Spain never got closer than 9 the rest of the way. Djeneba N'Diaye also scored 19 for Mali, now 1-1 in the tournament and 2-10 across its World Cup history.
Hungary also won on Saturday, holding off Nigeria 71-67 for their first World Cup victory since 1998, when they beat China in the quarter-finals. Nigeria trailed 66-52 with 3:57 left and closed to two points on a basket by Elizabeth Balogun with 3 seconds remaining, but Reka Lelik sank both free-throws after being fouled with just over a second on the clock to see it out.
Dorka Juhasz, of the Minnesota Lynx, led Hungary with 19 points and 16 rebounds, 13 and 11 of them coming before half-time. Virag Takacs-Kiss added 17. Amy Okonkwo scored 17 for Nigeria, who fell to 0-2. Hungary close pool play against Korea, Nigeria against France. Germany and Japan, and France and Korea, were the other fixtures on the day.
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