MFM secured their second win in the FIBA Women’s Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Zone 3 Qualifiers with a 77–46 victory over Flames Female Basketball in Monrovia on Thursday, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League champions dominated at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, winning all four quarters to secure the 77–46 victory. It followed their 59–36 opening-game win over fellow Nigerian side First Bank Basketball Club on Wednesday.
MFM took an early 20–11 lead in the opening quarter before extending the advantage with a 16–8 second-quarter performance to go into half-time 36–19 ahead.
They maintained their control after the restart, taking the third quarter 16–7 before closing out the game with a 25–20 advantage in the final period to seal a 31-point win.
Ukamaka Okoh led MFM’s scoring with 13 points, while Regina Iornumbe added 11 and Idubamo Beggi contributed 10.
Earlier, Nigeria’s other representative, First Bank, suffered their second defeat of the qualifiers, losing 55–54 to Côte d’Ivoire’s Friends of Basketball Association (FBA) in a closely contested encounter.
FBA established a 34–26 lead at half-time after taking the opening two quarters 13–11 and 21–15. First Bank responded in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring their opponents 17–14 and 11–7 respectively, but could not complete the comeback.
MFM Queens lead the Group A standings with four points from two matches, ahead of FBA on points difference. First Bank are fifth with two points, while only the top two teams will qualify for the continental finals in Cairo, Egypt, scheduled for December 11–19.
Both Nigerian sides return to Group A action on Friday, November 6, with First Bank facing Benin’s Energie BBC at 3:00 pm before MFM take on D-Rockas Basketball Club at 8:00 pm.
Image: MFM
