NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 14 – Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) head coach Anthony Ojukwu admitted that his girls cracked in the third quarter, as they dropped an 11-point halftime lead to lose 81-71 to Rwandese side APR in their final group match of the Women’s Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Zone Five qualifier at the Nyayo Gymnasium on Thursday night.
Ojukwu, speaking to Capital Sports after the game, said he is not worried nonetheless despite the defeat that meant they finish second in the group, and will face another Rwandese side, REG, in the semi-final on Friday night.
“It was a good game which I enjoyed watching and playing in. It is only dissapinting that we didn’t win but we did really well in execution,” Ojukwu said.
He added; “In the third quarter, we were not mentally tough. We cracked and I don’t know what the players were thinking. I tried calling for a time out to solve the issue but it was just a matter of mental toughness. We did some errors which we could have avoided if we were ourselves.”
The dockers controlled the game really well in the opening two quarters as their tough defense completely shut out APR. Alima Doumbia was given the duty to closely guard Italee Lucas, APR’s danger girl, a job which she did with military precision.
The dockers had a seven point lead at the end of the first quarter, scores at 24-17, a lead they extended by a further four to lead 44-33 at halftime. This was majorly due to their prowess from the three-point line, Doumbia and Betty Kananu shooting for fun.
Ifunanya Okoro ran the floor perfectly for the dockers, as they seemed to have held the Rwandese girls on chokehold. However, they imploded in the third quarter.
APR seemed to have had a tough talk in the dressing room as they completely turned the game around, restricting KPA to only 10 points as they scored 21. American-born Angolan Lucas was unplayable, as she completely ran riot.
Her combination with Kamba Yoro Diakite was the catalyst for the turnaround, as KPA found themselves lost, and were late especially in collecting defensive rebounds.
In the fourth quarter, KPA made an attempt to rally back, but it was too little effort too late as APR were now comfortably on the drivers’ seat.
The dockers lost points on discipline, Mercy Wanyama landing a technical foul for protesting a decision while Aminata Ly gave away three fouls that led to APR going to the free throw line as the dockers had filled their team fouls.
Diakite had a game high 24 points for APR, Lucas adding 20, point guard Philoxy Destiney adding 19 while the fleet-footed Yacine Diop had 12. These four were APR’s runners for the night. APR’s points were hauled by only six players. Assouma Uwizeye and Faith Davis each had three.
Ifunanya Okoro and Aminata Ly were KPA’s best performers as they chalked double-doubles. Okoro had 20 points and 12 rebounds while Ly, despite a little bit of a deflation in the last quarter and a battle with muscle cramps managed 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Doumbia was the only other KPA player with double digit points as she managed 24.
Ojukwu now hopes that her girls will be firing from all cylinders when they face REG on Friday night, with not only a chance to go to the final but also a ticket to the WBLA at stake.
“I have told them that we have slipped but we are not down. We will pick ourselves up. I don’t watch my opponents. I just come to play my game and I adjust to their strengths and look to make the most of their weaknesses,” Ojukwu stated.
REG finished top of their group after a hard fought 67-56 victory over Burundi’s Les Hippos who finished second and will face off with APR in the first semi-final.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s other representatives Zetech University beat Tanzania’s Don Bosco Lionesses 84-62. Mary Lisa Omondi was the star of the show with 22 points while Angela Oduor had a double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Christine Akinyi and Rose Akinyi also managed double digit scores with 15 and 10 respectively.
Zetech will take on Tanzania’s Fox Divas in the fifth and sixth spot placement game on Saturday.
