NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 2 – Kenya Ports Authority relinquished their Africa Zone Five Women’s Basketball title after losing 78-67 to Egypt’s Alexandria Sports Club in the final played at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium Indoor Arena in Dar es Salaam.
The dockers had a good start but couldn’t maintain it to the end, as they failed to defend the title they won last year.
“I am happy with how we played. We put up a good performance and it is only that the score did not favour us. For me, it is not about losing but the lessons we have picked. We come back with lots of experiences and hopefully improve as we go on,” said Anthony Ojukwu, the KPA head coach.
The American-based trio of Victoria Reynolds, Kristina Morgan and Nicole Brittany once again starred for the dockers, Reynolds collecting 21 points, Morgan 18 and Brittany eight, the top three scorers for them.
Medina Okot was impressive for KPA on the boards as she chalked 18 rebounds, 13 of them defensively.
For the Egyptians, Amer Hagar Mohamed was the start of the show with a double double of a game high 22 points and 14 rebounds.
KPA had a good start to the game, going on an 8-0 scoring run straight from tip off with Reynolds, Morgan and Brittany on the boards.
But, ASC slowly crawled back and went on a scoring run of their own, hitting six to reduce the game to a single basket contest. The game went on to be a see saw but Reynolds gave KPA a six point lead with a three pointer.
ASC called a timeout with 1:22 on the clock, trailing 23-14. They came back to score eight unanswered points as the first quarter ended with a half a basket difference.
In the second quarter, the Egyptians came back better and took the lead for the first time, but it kept changing hands before they eventually went to the halftime break with a 39-38 lead.
They didn’t look back from then on, leading 42-39 at the end of the third quarter and increasing the gap to eventually win 78-67.