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.
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.
Iyana Martin scored 20 points for Spain (1-1), which was one of the top teams in the world.
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.
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.
Other games on Saturday were Germany against Japan and France playing Korea.
___
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
