KPA through to FIBA Africa Cup quarters

Kenya basketball league champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) women's finally got their wins of the ongoing FIBA Africa Women’s Champions Cup tournament, thr first coming with a blow-out victory over Group A opponents Energie BBC.

Victory against the Benin side on Monday evening quranteed the Antony Ojukwu-led women's side a place in the last eight scheduled for Thursday 15 December. 

The competition, being hosted in Maputo, Mozambique had brought together nine teams that were pooled into two groups with KPA landing in a tough group A. 

After going winless in their first two matches against Angola's Inter Club and Costa do Sol of Mozambique, the dockers needed a win which they got in the clash against Energie in a 83-45 outcome and followed it up with a well-deserved 69-59 victory over CNSS.

Teenage sensation Medina Okot led the scoring in the clash against Energie with 19 points as guard Ifunaya Okoro sunk 16 points. Skipper Natalie Akinyi scored 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Akinyi, in an interview with FIBA said that the win helped their confidence and would count towards their seeding in the quarters. 

"We feel good and needed to win to reach the Quarter-Finals. Our group has five teams, and only four progress to the knockout stages. So we have the win, and it is also important where we finish in the group ahead of the Quarter-Finals," said Akinyi. 

An elated Ojukwu, termed it a good game and a good morale booster ahead of their clash against Congolese side CNSS on Tuesday. 

Ojukwu keen to guide KPA to FIBA championships knockout stage

Against CNSS, the Kenyan champions and Zone Five silver medalist recovered from a slow start where they found themselves trailing 17-8 in the first quarter to win the match 59-69. 

The side dominated the remaining three periods 17-19, 16-24 and 9-18 for victory that places them in third place in the group stage. 

Okoro was the star of the show for the East Africans putting up a big performance for 35 points in the win. Akinyi added 13 to the tally while Okot managed nine. 

Okot was, however, instrumental in the side's victory as she managed 22 rebounds, 15 coming on the defensive side of the court. She lasted the entire march on the court with Okoro playing 38.44 minutes. 

"It was a very physical game but my players have shown some resilience and character. They really played together as a team and stayed composed throughout the last group quarters despite the shaky start. 

As we prepare for the quarters, we know it will be a tougher encounter but we will prepare well for that and give our all," Ojukwu added further acknowledging that the tournament had tested his team's limits.