CAIRO (Egypt) - On the third day of the ongoing Zone 5 Women's AfroBasket qualifiers, Uganda and Kenya got back to winning ways with wins over South Sudan and Burundi respectively.
Uganda defeated their former coach's side 83-69 while Kenya recorded their first win in three games with an 87-53 victory.
This is how the action unfolded:
Unplayable Asinde stars as Uganda dominate
For the third game in a row, Jane Asinde led from the front and put up big numbers in her team's second win in three games. She scored 28 points, the highest of the day, and added nine rebounds in the win.
Nicholas Natuhereza's charges fared better from behind the arc, hitting 7-of-21 from the floor, an improvement on their day two performance against Egypt, when they hit just two treys.
The 2023 AfroBasket seventh-placed team dominated the paint 38-26, second chance points 23-10 and fast breaks 22-9 as they led from the first whistle to the last.
A 15-0 run in the latter part of the second period gave Uganda the momentum to pull away from a tight 33-28 deficit and Alberto Antuna's side never looked back.
Despite playing a better second half, leading 20-18 and 18-15 in both quarters with three players in foul trouble, it was not enough to give them a fighting chance.
"After yesterday's loss we had to forget what happened and get focused. We started much better than against Egypt and I am happy that we shot better from three, defended really well and that gave us the opportunity to get easy baskets in transition," Natuhereza told FIBA.basketball.
For his part, Antuna, who will led Uganda at the 2023 Women's AfroBasket, believes his team needs to learn how to manage their games better.
"I am still proud of these girls. We have to understand that we are still in the process of building a team and playing against the seventh best team on the continent was tough. However, we need to improve our match management and adapt to the situation on the court. Our second half was a great show of resilience and we will build on that in our next game," said coach Antuna.
Reynolds leads Kenya past Burundi
Former Zone 5 qualifier MVP Victoria Reynolds was the star of the show for the Kenya Lionesses, scoring 22 points to go along with seven assists and six steals as her side bounced back from back-to-back losses to record an 87-53 win.
George Mayienga's charges dominated on all fronts, their good start to a 26-10 first quarter helping them to withstand Burundi's pressure in the second quarter, where they went ahead 15-8.
Kenya made adjustments in the second half and ran out 25-16 and 28-12 winners over the returning Burundi.
Skipper Selina Okumu was the team's second highest scorer with 15 points but Vilma Owino was the game changer when the Lionesses were under pressure, scoring 12 points in just over 11 minutes on the floor, most of them coming at crucial moments.
Ines Nezerwa was Burundi's best player with 20 points, the only double-figure scorer for her side on the day, and added eight rebounds, but eight turnovers meant they finished with an efficiency rating of 15.
"We made some adjustments in our execution and I am happy with the way we played," Mayienga said.
Reynolds, for her part, says that although the opening two wins have made their chances of qualifying more difficult, the team needs to keep fighting and get some wins.
She admits that the zone has become more competitive and that the absence of some of their key players, led by the sensational Madina Okot, has affected their performance.
Burundi, for their part, blamed a poor start and ball handling for their problems against Kenya.
"We had a slow start and allowed them to take a 21-4 lead, but after switching to a zone defence we were able to come back in the second quarter.
"We couldn't contain their intensity in the second half and they managed to outscore us for the win," said coach Arséne Mfuraniza.
He continued: "Going into the next game, we need to work on our ball handling to reduce our turnovers as that has been a big problem for my team".
FIBA