First Bank Basketball Club dug deep to beat FAP Basketball Club of Cameroon 69-66 to qualify for a successive semi final at the FIBA Africa Champions Cup Women in Maputo on Friday.
Aisha Mohammed scored a game high 23 points in 29 minutes. She had 7 rebounds and 2 steals to go with it. Mohammed shot 90 percent from the field and 5 of 9 from the line.
Two other Elephant Girls also finished on double figures: Nkem Akaraiwe had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals while Ginette Mfutila Makiese contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Both teams scored 32 points apiece at the end of the first half. First Bank restored the lead with 7:54 minutes left in the third quarter and stretched the lead to 5 points (39-34).
It was tougher in the final quarter with the game tied four times. First Bank had a 5-2 run in the last 2 minutes of the game to shake off a late surge from FAP who had a 3 pointer missed to take the game to overtime.
Ange Jolie Tsafack scored 13 points, 8 rebound, 4 assists and 5 steals for FAP. Sandrine Ayangma had 16 points, Alexandra Green 10 points and 4 steals while Amandine Fabo and Talisa Le Boyd scored 10 points each.
The two sides suffered a huge number of turnovers in the entire game. First Bank committed 32 while FAP made 24. But the latter gained more points from turnovers 31-26.
First Bank will play host Ferroviario De Maputo in the semi final on Saturday.
In the second semi final, AS Vita will take on five-time African champions InterClube from Angola.
