Malta women outclass Albania to strike gold at FIBA Championship for Small States

The Malta women’s basketball national team completed a perfect week at the FIBA Championships for Small States after brushing aside Albania and winning the gold medal at the Palestra e Sportevet in Kosovo on Sunday.

It was another commanding performance from Charles Bonnici’s girls, who were in control of the match right from the outset, giving little time to their opponents to settle down.

The two teams remained close to each other for the first part of the opening quarter, but from then on, the Maltese started to play with more intensity and pull away to secure a commanding 29-13 lead with Amber Melgoza potting an impressive 17 points.

In the second quarter, as expected, Bonnici started to ring the changes and brought several players off the bench, but that didn’t affect the team’s performance as they continued to hold a comfortable advantage before hitting five unanswered points late on and opening a commanding 21-point advantage – 44-23.

In the second part of the match, the Albanians tried to step up their momentum in a bid to wrest control of the game.

But the Maltese players remained firmly in control.

The Albanians did manage to bridge the gap to 17 points, but it was just a small reprieve as Melgoza and Danika Galea combined to ensure the Maltese girls held a 19-point lead before the final quarter – 57-38.

The final quarter saw the Maltese ably administering their advantage as they managed to reply to everything the Albanians threw at them with Josephine Diaby potting the team’s final two points to seal an emphatic 72-55 victory.