Gazelles Stay Afloat In AfroBasketball Qualifiers With Win Over Egypt

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Basketball February 16, 2023

Uganda’s opening game of the Women’s AfroBasketball Qualifiers didn’t go well as they lost to Kenya. Their Clcoach, Alberto Antuna said he wanted them to play with more confidence the rest of the tournament.

Last night, the Gazelles listened to the coach’s advice and delivered a victory against Egypt in the close game. They delivered an 86-85 win attributed to two important defensive stop from Flavia Oketcho and Jannon Otto.

Late in the opening quarter, the Gazelles trailed by as many as 10points. Despite that, they still played with confidence.

Soraya Deghady had good looks from three-point range in the first quarter due to Uganda’s 2-3 zone defense. This gave her space to launch from beyond the arc, finding the net on three shots from distance. However though, Uganda switched it up to a 3-2 zone in the second quarter, drying up Egypt’s offense. On the other end, Jannon became hot as Akello found her range beyond the arc and Brenda Ekone attacked the defense.

At halftime, they went into the locker room with the Gazelles holding Egypt at a 12-point advantage (50-38).

Egypt quickly patched its gaps in the third getting within two points of the Gazelles (52-55). However, the determination and confidence of the Gazelles propelled them back into a double-digit lead to end the third quarter 72-61.

Uganda maintained this lead early in the fourth quarter but they became a bit careless with the ball. They turned the ball over on different occasions giving Soraya open-court lay-ups.

Luckily, the Gazelles held on until the end of the game to win by just a point and keep their hopes of qualification for the AfroBasketball tournament alive.

Otto scored the game-high 27 points coupled with 14 rebounds while Akello added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ekone contributed 13 points while Oketcho and Maria Najjuma had 10 points each.

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