
Kenya Lionesses’ run at the ongoing FIBA Women AfroBasket Zone 5 Qualifiers is facing headwinds with only two matches played in Egypt even as a must win fixture against Burundi beckons.
The George Mayienga-coached side succumbed to a second successive loss (86-69) Tuesday against South Sudan barely 24 hours after the Ugandan beating Monday. The South Sudanese loss was particularly interesting since Kenya ladies team had beaten them in two consecutive meets. This was their second ever win in the competition with their first being against Rwanda in 2023.
Delicia Washington scored a game high 26 points for the South Sudanese coached by Alberto Antuna. Her input included six rebounds and seven assists. At the same time, Adut Balgak and Nyamuoch Teny weighed in with 14 points for Africa’s last born nation. South Sudan had excellent ball throwers and in the process converting 28/33 points with the players coming in as substitutes offering a lifeline of sorts as Kenya on the other hand struggled to put in the buckets when necessary.
Kenya’s Victoria Reynolds and Natalie Mwangale posted 19 points and 15 points respectively. Aside from that, Kenya was wasteful and did not defend effectively whenever they were on the back foot.
Coach Mayienga afterwards bemoaned the rued opportunities as he plotted against Burundi seeking their first win in the Qualifiers. “”We started the game better than yesterday against Uganda but in the third quarter we got into foul trouble and sent our opponents to the line. The turnovers and lack of rebounding cost us the game,” he said.
Meanwhile Uganda who are now placed second on the standings, could not repeat their Monday heroics as they fell to hosts Egypt 65-62 in a close contest. Egypt surrendered a 14-point lead (28-14) early in the second quarter and struggled to shake off a resilient Ugandan side.
The pearl nation were left bewildered for somewhat letting the momentum slide in the end to end contest. Ugandan Coach Nicholas Natuhureza was a frustrated man urging his team to learn to finish off games. “Egypt had a little more than us at the end and they made the winning plays. We need to work on how to finish games.
In the match, Paige Robinson, Jane Asinde and Hope Akello were the drivers of force with the ball but Egypt through Hala Elshaaraway and Farida Abdelnabi made it count to the last ball. Despite the win, Coach Amr Elmaraghy was not a pleased man with a mount of turnovers given away by his team.