Sika Kone's Fifth Straight Double-Double Beats Spain
Mali 82 Spain 73 in Berlin. Kone 19 and 10. First five consecutive Women's World Cup double-doubles. Mali's second tournament win ever.
Photo: WNBA.com / Atlanta Dream. Official league headshot, 1040×760, full head.
Mali beat Spain 82-73 in Berlin. Sika Kone finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
She is the first player in Women's World Cup history with five consecutive double-doubles, and Mali's win is only its second tournament win ever.
Mali was down two at the half, then flipped a World Cup frontrunner with a 31-19 third quarter.
The run that mattered started at 45-44 Spain. Mali went 16-4. Kone hit two threes in that burst. She hit another to help open the fourth with five straight points. Spain never got inside nine again. Djeneba N'Diaye scored 19 with her. Iyana Martin led Spain with 20 and still walked into a loss Spain was supposed to own after an 83-53 statement over host Germany on Day 1.
Watch how Mali got the threes. FIBA has them at 1-of-9 from deep early, then 6-of-7 in the third. Spain failed to stop the break, then paid for every late closeout once Mali's legs were rolling. Mali entered the day 18th in the FIBA women's rankings, twelve spots under Spain. Nobody in the building treated the gap like a real number after the third tip.
Kone already had the double-double look Friday. Against Japan she went 21 and 11 in a 102-97 loss that felt like a steal gone wrong. Today she cleaned the glass, finished the run, and walked into the record book. FIBA lists her at six career Women's World Cup double-doubles, tied for tenth all-time since 1994, with the longest streak on that board at five. Sancho Little, Haixia Zheng, and Yelena Leuchanka topped out at four. Kone just passed them.
Photo: FIBA. Sika Kone of Mali celebrates during Mali's 82-73 win over Spain at Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Sep 5, 2026. FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. Landscape 2000×1333, full head. Hosted on assets.fiba.basketball.
This is Mali's second World Cup win in twelve tries. The first was overtime against Senegal in 2010. The only prior meeting with Spain at this event was an 80-36 loss that same year. Sixteen years later the Dream forward who has spent club seasons in Spain called the win everything. It is also Mali's first World Cup win against a European side.
Group A is messy. Spain and Mali sit 1-1. Japan just dropped to Germany 74-58 after the 20-three night against Mali. Mali's next tip is the host.
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