BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Mali pulled off the first stunner of the Women’s Basketball World Cup by shocking Spain 82-73 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It was only the second win ever in tournament history for the African country, which beat Senegal in overtime in 2010.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Djeneba N’Diaye also had 19 points for Mali, which is 2-10 in its World Cup history.<\/p>\n
Iyana Martin scored 20 points for Spain (1-1), which was one of the top teams in the world.<\/p>\n
Hungary holds off Nigeria for first World Cup win in 28 years<\/p>\n
Dorka Juhasz had 19 points and 16 rebounds to help Hungary edge Nigeria 71-67.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Amy Okonkwo scored 17 points to lead Nigeria, which finishes off pool play against France.<\/p>\n
Other games on Saturday were Germany against Japan and France playing Korea.<\/p>\n
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