NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 29 – Defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and fellow Kenyan side Equity Hawks have both earned tickets to the quarter-final of the Africa Zone Five Women’s Basketball Championship after progressing from their final group stage matches on Wednesday.
Equity bounced back from their opening day defeat to thrash South Sudan’s Nile Legends 78-37 while the dockers beat Rwanda’s REG BBC 67-48 to pick back to back wins.
Interestingly, KPA and the Rwandese side will be paired together again in the quarters of the nine-team tournament while Equity will take on Tanzania’s Vijana Queens.
A win for KPA will earn them a semis slot against either Rwanda’s APR or South Sudan’s Nile Legends while a win for Equity will earn them a tie against either Egypt’s Alexandria Sports Club or Burundi’s Young Sisters.
In the last round of group matches, KPA were in fine form once again, despite some strong resistance from the Rwandese in the final two quarters.
“It was a good game from us and our aims was to ensure we start well and the opponents to always be on the chase. Our game plan worked and I am glad that we dictated the tempo of the game,” KPA coach Anthony Ojukwu told Capital Sport.
Victoria Reynolds and Kristina King were in fine form for the dockers once again, hitting double figures with 22 and 15 points respectively.
Sandra Kantore was REG’s best player on the court with 22 points.
KPA established a 10-opoint lead at the end of the first quarter when they led 18-18 and increased that to 19 points at halftime when they led 35-16.
The Rwandese girls came back better in the second half of the game as they tied in scoring at 17-17 and 15-15 in the last two quarters, but KPA’s strong start had sailed them through.
Meanwhile, Hawks who lost last year’s final to the dockers bounced back in a huge way against Nile Legends, leading the game from start to finish.
Silalei Shani hit a double double for the bankers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Christine Akinyi also did well collecting double digits after earning 14 points from the tie. Fiona Yasmina had a game high 17 points for the South Sudanese.
Equity led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter and were roaring with a 21-point gap at halftime, scores standing at 39-18. They maintained this gap to the end, as they revived their hopes of battling for the title.
If both sides go past their quarters and semis matches, then they will meet once again in the final.
