Equity Hawks’ Mercy Wanyama (jersey 13 with ball) rises for a basket against their match with V-Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Luanda Angola.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 16 – Equity Hawks women’s basketball team qualified for the quarter finals of the ongoing FIBA Africa Women’s Championships Cup in Luanda, Angola after beating V-Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo 67-62.
Speaking after the match, Equity Hawks head coach David Maina said that the team drew vital lessons during their first three games and it was time for the ladies to come out of the woods and increase their chances of qualifying for the next stage.
“It was a period of reflection and we had to sit down as a team and evaluate how our performance has been. I am glad to note that my girls were able to pick up the pieces and to what they needed to do for their survival in the tournament,” Maina said.
Hildah Indasi, Samba Mjomba, Belinda Okoth, Everline Nora and Linda Alando were the first five in the first quarter that was neck-to-neck with each team scoring a basket at a time throughout ending in a tie of 15-15.
The game became even tighter in the second quarter as the Hawks, put into good use what was discussed during training and locker room sessions to maintain a straight 10-minute play of quick passes in the opponent’s D-section shoot for the basket repeatedly.
The Congolese equally made good effort edging ahead 30-28 by halftime.
Point Guard Samba Mjomba dribbles the ball in the opponent’s D-section at their game against Interclube of Angola during the game where they qualified for the quarter finals.
The ladies showed their intent to move to the next stage during the last quarter when the girls from both teams fervently sought the win scoring one after the other.
At 28 seconds to the final whistle the score was 56-54 with Equity Hawks in the lead.
V- Club intercepted the ball from the Hawks when it was tossed to Menya to score for 56: 56 draw that required extra time to break the tie.
With 9-seconds to the final whistle, Belinda Okoth was granted one free throw as the ladies from V-Club brigade attempted to make their way through to even the scores.
At the end of the final whistle Equity Hawks won the game 67-62 with Mercy Wanyama leading with 19 points, Indasi with 16 points and Nora with 11 points.
The win against V-Club of DRC was a crucial pump up for the Hawks team to progress after false starts in the first three matches against First Bank Club of Nigeria Nigeria, (62-43) GS Petroliers of Algeria (59-32) and Interclube of Angola (99-30).
