Basketball: Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers Substitute Make History At BAL

  Basketball: Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers Substitute Make History At BAL By Niyi Busari AS Salé head coach, Liz Mills (Australia) made history when she led the Moroccan champions at the ongoing Basketball African League (BAL), becoming the first woman to coach a BAL team and first woman to coach a Moroccan men’s team. AS Sale lost their first match 87-91 to REG of Rwanda on Sunday. The 12 BAL teams, which include defending BAL Champions, Zamalek (Egypt), have been divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. Each conference will play a 15- game group phase during which each team will face the five other teams in its conference once. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place at the Dakar Arena from March 5-15, while the Nile Conference group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, Egypt from April 9-19. The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs, which will feature a single-elimination tournament and Finals at Kigali Arena in Rwanda from May 21-28.   Rosters for Nile Conference teams will be announced at a later date.