KPA, Equity Hawks storm Zone V qualifiers quarter-finals
Cynthia Kiptoo (left) of Eldonets Ladies Team is guarded by Melissa Otieno of Equity Ladies during their Kenya Basketball Federation women's Premier League match at Uasin Gishu Primary School grounds in Eldoret on February 25, 2023. Equity won 85-45.
What you need to know:
- In their final group match on Wednesday, KPA--who are the tournament’s favourites--defeated South Sudan’s Nile Legends 70-49
- KPA’s coach Anthony Ojukwu said that they will approach the quarter finals match with a lot of caution noting that any mistake can lead to elimination
- The two finalists in the qualifiers are set to feature in the Africa Women’s Basketball League, a continental women’s club competition scheduled for December in Egypt
Kenyan teams Wednesday finished top of their respective groups at the ongoing Africa Women Basketball League qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.
Equity Hawks and Kenya Ports Authority, who were in Group "A" and "B" respectively, proved too strong for their opponents to sail through to the quarter-finals unbeaten in all their preliminary round matches.
In their final group match on Wednesday, KPA--who are the tournament’s favourites--defeated South Sudan’s Nile Legends 70-49.
Aminata Semassekou, Victoria Reynolds and Hilda Indasi were top scorers for the dockers scoring 16,14 and 13 points respectively.
KPA won the first quarter 17-7 but suffered a scare in the second quarter where they lost 15-13.
However, the dockers proved too strong for the South Sudanese in the third and fourth quarters, winning 22-14 and 18-13 respectively.
KPA’s coach Anthony Ojukwu said that they will approach the quarter finals match with a lot of caution noting that any mistake can lead to elimination.
“The win against Nile Legends was good, we now await the quarters but our target is the semis,” said Ojukwu.
On their part, Equity Hawks defeated APR of Rwanda 63-56 in a tightly contested Group "A" match.
APR played well offensively in the first and second quarters to go into the half-time break leading but Equity Hawks changed tact in the third and fourth quarter to win the match.
In other final group matches, Gladiators of Uganda edged out Vijana Queens of Tanzania 78-54 while Rwanda Energy Group (REG) defeated JKL Lady Dolphins of Uganda 66-65.
The two finalists will qualify for the Africa Women’s Basketball League, a continental women’s club competition scheduled for December in Egypt.
Last year, KPA lost the Fiba Africa Zone Five club Championship to Alexandria of Egypt 78-67 in the final played in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
