Rwanda U18 women's basketball team lost their first Afrobasket match following Thursday night's 71-74 defeat at the hands of Tunisia.

Jacques Bahige and his girls left University of Pretoria gymansium shaking heads after losing the game which they had fought hard for from the very beginning.

Fresh from beating hosts South Africa 102-37 in their Group A opener, Rwanda came into the game with a positive mind and ready to overcome any challenges although they knew that Tunisia would give them a hard time on the floor.

Tunisia won the first two quarters 21-15 and 19-11 to open a 40-26 lead at the break but, coming back into the second half, Rwanda put up a spirited comeback to claim the third quarter 29-13.

They went into the final quarter leading the Tunisians by two points but the latter overcame the deficit and won the decisive quarter 21-16 and went on to win the game.

Brigitte Nibishaka starred for Rwanda with 24 points 15 rebounds while Yvonne Muhawenimana and Liliane Ingabire added 18 and 10 points, respectively.

After the game, head coach Bahige told Times Sport that: "It's a good step because, in this game, we were able to do well, defensively, which is why there is no big difference in the score,"

"We are still preparing and we hope that we will improve in our next game against Cameroon. I hope we will win it," Bahige said.