First Bank crown champion beat ABC 64-55

Nigeria First Bank basketball club Sunday night defeated Abidjan Basket Club, ABC to the 2009 edition of the FIBA Africa Champions Club for Women crown by 64-55 points.

The Nigeria who earned a FIBA Africa wild-card did not drop a game enroute to being crown champion after six years of playing second fiddle to other teams on the continent.

First Bank won the three first three quarters to take the sail off the Ivories with 15-13, 15-09 and 19-17 going into the last quarter with a ten points advantage of 49-39 points.

Efforts by ABC spurred on by Fatoumata Camara who had a double double efforts of 23 points and 12 rebounds the highest by any player on the night could only yield the ABC side a slim 16-15 points win as they could not sustain the pressure mounted by the Nigerian.

First Bank basketball club Mecican-import, Brisa Silva led her team with 17 points and 3 rebounds, team captain, Funmilayo Ojelabi contributed 13 points and 3 rebounds while Mfon Udoka added 11 points and 5 rebounds with Adeola Olanrewaju grabbing 13 rebounds for her side.

First Bank Danielle Green lead role of honours, crown MVP

First Bank basketball club guard, Danielle Green has emerged as the 15th FIBA Africa Champions Club for Women most valuable player (MVP) with overwhelming votes by coaches and journalists.

Green was also named into the competition Top-5 players list, other award winners includes, Club Sportif d'Abidjan, CSA guard, Kani Kouyate who won the competition highest field-goal award and also a place in the Top-5 honours, Desportivo forward, Leia Dongue won the leading rebounder award while First Bank Brisa Silva won the best Three-Point award.

Other players named into the 2009 edition of the continent biggest women club competition award includes, Ana Flavia Azinheira of A"Politecnica basketball club of Mozambique, Rashidat Sadiq of First Bank basketball club and Abidjan Basket Club, ABC center, Fatoumata Camara.

First Bank basketball club received a giant trophy and gold medals, ABC got the silver medal while Desportivo got the bronze medals with the fair-play trophy going to Energie basketball club of Benin Republic.

First Bank book final ticket beat Interclube 69-65

First Bank basketball club of Nigeria Saturday fought a hard battle to see off Interclube basketball club of Angola by 69-65 points after Over-time at the IRSP gymnase, Ouidah, Benin Republic.

The Nigerian side champion in 2003 entered the game as favourite due to her pedigree in the preliminary through the quarter-final stage winning the first quarter by 21-15 points, while the Angolan side came back strongly in the second quarter with a 20-17 points with half-time scores standing at 38-35 points in favour of First Bank.

Interclube continue her charged on the First Bank side at the resumption of play in third quarter winning the quarter by 1°-08 points cut down their deficit to just one points of 46-45 points going into the last quarter which they also won 15-14 points to even scores at 60-60 points to set-up a five-minute over-time.

First Bank falls back to three points play in the over-time which paid off as Rashidat Sadiq and Danielle Green took time to pound Interclube with repeated three points shot to win at 69-65 points.

First Bank Danielle Green led the floor with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Adeola Olanrewaju recorded 11 points and 5 rebounds to help their side book a grand finale ticket.

First Bank will now take on the winner of the second semi-final between defending champions, Desportivo basketball club of Mozambique and Abidjan Basket Club of Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday at the Palais des Sports in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers: First Deepwater truly the first beat CSA 51-50

Africa team of the moment, First Deepwater basketball club of Nigeria makes history at the FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers holding in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire when it recorded a hard earned 51-50 points victory over CSA basketball club of Cote dIvoire.

The Nigerian side made up of an entirely home-based players picked the first three quarter of the tense game against the Ivorian league champion by 13-10, 14-12 and 15-13 points respectively to move into the last quarter with a 42-35 points advantage.

The CSA side spurred on by Cote dIvoire national team guard and reigning FIBA Africa Championship for Women leading scorer, Kani Kouyate came into the quarter with a determination to turn the table against their Nigerian opponent as time ticks away winning the quarter by 15-09 points but the effort was not good enough as the Coach Lateef Erinfolami tutored First Deepwater side held their ground to pick her third win by 51-50 points.

First Deepwater basketball club forward, Ijeoma Frank Uchendu was fantastic for her side recording a double double figure of 13 points and 11 rebound, her compatriot, Kelechi Obasi contributed 12 points and 4 rebounds while Rebecca Iritei added 10 points and 3 rebounds.

Kani Kouyates big effort of 16 points and 9 rebounds was not enough to save her side from going down.

First Deepwater basketball club will Friday play her last game against Togolese CBS at 17.00Hours while CSA have an herculean task of dislodging Abidjan Basket Club, ABC basketball club at 19.00Hours.

FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers: ABC compound First Bank woes, win 81-72

Abidjan Basket Club (ABC) of Cote dIvoire late Thursday compounded the woes of Nigeria women league champion, First Bank basketball club in the FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers with a 81-72 points victory to inch nearer picking a ticket to the final round of the 16th FIBA Africa Champions Club Cup for Women.

ABC who lost to Nigeria First Deepwater basketball club by 61-53 points on Tuesday gave their all to see off the challenges poised by the Elephant Girls.

ABC forward, Fatoumata Camara big effort of 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 block-shot was enough to give her side victory over the Nigeria champion who won the African title in 2003.

First Bank rallied to a 16-12 points win in the first quarter of the highly charged game but the Ivorian side charged back like a wounded Elephants in the second quarter and never looked back until the buzzer-shot winning the three remaining quarters by 20-17, 25-17 and 24-22 points respectively.

ABC play-maker, Achiata Diomande also gave a good account of her-self scoring 17 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds, Salimata Berte contributed 17 points just as Tshiniangu Kalanda added 12 points and 9 rebounds for a well deserved victory for the former Ivorian league champion.

First Bank play her last qualifiers game against Unity Basketball Club, UBC of Togo as the team jets back home aboard Ethiopia Airline Friday

First Bank through to semi-final beat First Deepwater

First Bank basketball club of Nigeria Friday defeated her Nigeria rival, First Deepwater basketball by 88-48 points in the first quarter-finals of the 15th FIBA Africa Champions Club for Women at the ISPR gymnase, Ouidah , Benin Republic.

The Elephant Girls who paraded eight Nigeria senior women national team players overwhelmed the First Deepwater players from the blast of the referee whistle to the end of the game winning in all four quarters.

With the win, First Bank now became the first team to book a place in the semi-finals where they will slug it out against the winner of the quarter-final duel between A'Politecnica basketball club of Mozambique and Interclube basketball club of Angola on Saturday. First Bank won in all four quarters 26-12, 14-11, 26-07 and 22-18 for a final score-line of 88-48.

But First Deepwater youthful forward, Ijeoma Uchendu gave a good account of herself with good post moves amid experience forward lined-up by First Bank in the game which turned one-sided as she scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

First Bank America import, Danielle Green, led the floor with a double double effort of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists; Mexican-born guard Brisa Silva added 18 points, Chioma Udeaja contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds just as the duo of Funmilayo Ojelabi and US-base Rashidat Sadiq contributed 13 and 10 points respectively.

First Bank basketball club head coach, Adewumi Aderemi praised the gallant First Deepwater basketball players but thumb-up his ward for being so fantastic.

Coach Aderemi declared emphatically that nothing will stop his team from clinching the diadem they last won in 2003.

'We are set for all oppositions in this competition and I want to say with due respect to other teams that nothing will stop us from being crowned champion this time after almost seven years since we last won it in 2003 as we are tired of placing third every time.

‘Though we won our quarter-final game against our Nigeria opponent, First Deepwater by a wide margin that does not take away the fact that they are a good side remember they came top at the zone-III qualifiers in Abidjan , the coach concluded