Defending Champions, United States of America beat Senegal 87-67 in Group D opener of the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain on Saturday.
Elena Donne led three other Americans on double digits with 19 points and 6 rebounds while Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points and 4 rebounds. A’Ja Wilson made 15 points and Breanna Stewart had 14 points and 6 rebounds to go with it.
Senegal fought hard from the start of the game heading to the break with a 13 points deficit (45-31) but were later subdued by USA’s transition offence in the second half.
Oumoul Sarr recorded 18 points, 4 rebounds while 2017 Afrobasket MVP contributed 13 points and 4 rebounds.
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With 8 minutes remaining, USA stretched the lead to 20 making it a huge mountain for Senegal to surmount. USA made good use of their bench recording 43 points to 25 scored by Senegal.
In other Group C game played, China beat Debutant Latvia 64-61 as Ting Shao (15), Siya Wang (10) and Liwei Tang (10) all combined on double digits.
Anete Steinberg’s double-double, 16 points and 11 rebounds and Elina Dikaioulaku’s 14 points wasn’t enough to earn Latvia their first World Cup win.
Senegal will face Latvia as both look for their first win at 2pm local time while USA will take on China later on Sunday at 6pm.
