Mali wins women's basketball African title

DAKAR, Sept. 6 -- Bali defeated Egypt 78-64 to win the inaugural

African women's basketball tournament on Saturday.

Losing to Egypt by 46-45 in the opener, Mali lagged behind 11-3in the

beginning of the final but overtook the lead 19-15.

The Mali women again fell behind 37-34 into the second half before the

Egyptian peers failed to make their long range shots and Mali turned around the

tide through tough defense.

The inaugural tournament features five national teams of Algeria, Angola,

Egypt, Senegal and Mali.

With the victory, Mali will represent Africa to compete in the women's

world basketball championship slated in July, 2010 in France.