CAIRO (Egypt) - The FIBA Women's AfroBasket Zone Five Qualifiers got underway at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall with Egypt and Uganda getting their campaigns off to winning starts.
Both teams represented the Zone in the last edition of the women's event, with the East Africans finishing seventh while Egypt, who won the 2023 Zone qualifiers, finished tenth in the 12-team competition.
First win for Asinde's Gazelles
Uganda's women's national team, the Gazelles, had a field day in the paint against neighbours and rivals Kenya Lionesses, dominating their way to a 78-56 victory.
Skipper Jane Asinde led from the front, scoring 24 points to come within a rebound of a double-double. She added four assists and as many steals to finish with a game-high 24 points. Paige Robinson and Shakira Nanvubya also reached double figures with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Kenya dominated the paint 38-14 and scored 17-5 off fast breaks. They were led by 2021 MVP Victoria Reynolds who scored 13 points, one more than Mercy Wanyama, but their slow start proved costly for George Mayienga's side.
Uganda coach Nicholas Natuhereza, who was without key player Jamila Nansikombi, who is expected to be in the squad for the next game, told FIBA.basketball: "We always want to start with a win and we are happy to have achieved that. We mostly played the way we wanted to, getting stops and points in transition, which is our style, but I don't think the score shows the things we didn't do right. We need to fix those and build on this win as we look forward to the end of the week.
Meanwhile, Kenya head coach Mayienga blamed their slow start and poor decision-making for the defeat, saying: "Catching up was a big problem for us because our opponents were already settled. We did not know who had the hot hand that affected us in attack and although we converted better at the line, it was not enough. Our decision-making was also a problem."
Looking ahead to their next game, captain Selina Okumu says the team need to work on their kicking game and adopt a collective defence, arguing that the team had opted for individualism which did not help them as they tried to catch up with Uganda.
Show of dominance by hosts as they defeat returning Burundi
Raneem Elgedawy and Nadine Mohamed lived up to expectations, running roughshod over Burundi to lead Egypt to a 102-40 victory in a lopsided encounter.
The duo scored 16 points apiece in the first half, with Nadine finishing with 22, two more than her compatriot, as the hosts dominated on all fronts, capitalising on Burundi's sloppy ball handling, which resulted in 42 turnovers, to score 54 points and dominate in the paint, where they were outscored 54-20.
Burundi had their flashes of brilliance, getting a few plays right, but for the most part looked hapless, failing to make the crucial stops and allowing the defending champions to run away with the game. Head coach Amr Elmaraghy said his team played well despite it being their first game, adding that he expected similar performances in their remaining matches.
His sentiments were echoed by captain Farida Abdelnabi, who said: "It was important to send out a message in the first game that we are here for the championship and won't be an easy team to beat. But we will take it one game at a time. We will study the rest of the teams and at the same time correct the mistakes we made in this game as we aim to become back-to-back champions," she offered.
Burundi's most experienced player on the floor, Ines Nezerwa, who led her side with nine rebounds, said the game prepared her team for the rest of the tournament as they were tested against the best in the world, both offensively and defensively.
"We knew it was not going to be easy after being on the road for so long and facing a powerhouse. We set out to give our best, knowing that they are good at transitioning offensively. We had a slow start but made adjustments in the second quarter. But they beat us with threes. But we did a good job of staying in the game, even though the gap at halftime was huge. This will help us in the coming games," said Ines Nezerwa.
FIBA