AfroBasket Women - Mozambique trounce Zimbabwe, fall shy of record
MAPUTO (AfroBasket Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Tournament hosts Mozambique cruised to yet another comfortable win as they trounced Zimbabwe 117-28 in Sunday's only game at AfroBasket Women 2013.
Mozambique are one of the favourites to claim one of the two places on offer for African teams for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women by reaching the Final of the continental tournament in Maputo.
Anabela Cossa led the Mozambicans with 20 points while her teammate Deolinda Ngulela handed out 13 assists, the most by any player in the tournament so far.
Dorcas Marondera led the Zimbabweans with a dozen points and five rebounds as they had a tournament-low three assists to remain winless in two games.
Mozambique opened the game by scoring the first 12 points thanks to a full-court pressure defense that disrupted a Zimbabwe team lacking alternative offensive plays.
The hosts went into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 67-18 lead.
As the second half got underway, home fans started to chant, "We want the 100 mark".
Nazir Sale's team fulfilled their fans' request, reaching the 100-point mark on a Cecilia Henriques lay-up into the fourth quarter.
Despite Mozambique getting the biggest margin of victory so far in the tournament, they missed out on equalling their biggest winning margin of 90 points by just one point. In 2009, they crushed Mauritius 121-31.
Mozambique will be put to the test when they take on title contenders Senegal on Wednesday.
For full and in-depth coverage of AfroBasket Women 2013, go to the official website http://maputo2013.fibaafrica.com/index.php/en.
