Mali’s Sika Kone vies for the ball with Spain’s Maite Cazorla, left, during the women’s World Cup basketball match between Mali and Spain, in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Andreas Gora/Andreas Gora/DPA via AP
Germany’s Lina Sontag blocks Japan’s Kokoro Tanaka during the Women’s Basketball World Cup match between Germany and Japan in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
German players react during the Women’s Basketball World Cup match between Germany and Japan in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
France’s Marine Johannes shoots during the Women’s Basketball World Cup match between France and Korea in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
BERLIN (AP) — Mali pulled off the first stunner of the Women’s Basketball World Cup by shocking Spain 82-73 on Saturday.
It was only the second win ever in tournament history for the African country, which beat Senegal in overtime in 2010.
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Mali was down two at the half, but outscored Spain 31-19 in the third quarter to take the lead. Mali went on a 16-4 run in that period after it was down 45-44 to take command. Sika Kone, who finished with 19 points, had two 3-pointers during that game-changing run. Kone, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, also had 10 rebounds.
Mali (1-1) scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including another 3-pointer by Kone, to put the game away as Spain could get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Djeneba N’Diaye also had 19 points for Mali, which is 2-10 in its World Cup history.
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Iyana Martin scored 20 points for Spain (1-1), which was one of the top teams in the world.
Host Germany slows down Japan for first win
Germany got off to a fast start and slowed down Japan in a 74-58 win.
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In front of a sold-out crowd that was loud for the entire game, Germany outscored Japan 28-11 in the first quarter. Japan, which beat Mali 102-97 in its opener Friday, couldn’t find any rhythm against the hosts. A day after hitting a World Cup-record 20 3-pointers, Japan was just 3-for-27 from behind the arc. Two of those makes came in the final 1:38 of the game.
“We know Japan shoots more 3s than 2s, so we took away the 3,” said German star Leonie Fiebich. “Our goal was to be physical with them.”
Frieda Buhner scored 19 points and Nyara Sabally added 18 for Germany (1-1).
Kokoro Tanaka led Japan (1-1) with 15 points.
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All four teams in Group A are tied at 1-1.
Hungary holds off Nigeria for first World Cup win in 28 years
Dorka Juhasz had 19 points and 16 rebounds to help Hungary edge Nigeria 71-67.
Nigeria (0-2) was down 66-52 with 3:57 left before getting within two with 3 seconds left on Elizabeth Balogun’s basket. Nigeria fouled Reka Lelik with just over a second left and she calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the win.
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It was Hungary’s first victory since 1998 when the team topped China in the quarterfinals. Now they’ll play Korea next to close out pool play.
Virag Takacs-Kiss added 17 points for Hungary (1-1). Juhasz, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.
Amy Okonkwo scored 17 points to lead Nigeria, which finishes off pool play against France.
France recovers from rough first quarter to rout South Korea
Marine Johannes scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half as France rallied from a slow start to beat South Korea 95-69 in the final game of the day.
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South Korea (1-1) got off to a hot start and led 31-24 after the first quarter. Then Johannes and France got going, scoring the first 14 points of the second quarter. Johannes had nine of those as the French (2-0) led 43-37 at the half.
France put the game away at the start of the third quarter with a 24-4 run dominated by Dominique Malonga and Gabby Williams. Malonga had 10 points and Williams nine during that spurt.
South Korea could never recover.
Malonga and Williams each finished with 14 points.
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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here