WBL-AQ: Pantaleo stars as Equity Hawks bounce back to improve quarter's chances

They might have to wait until the end of the group phase to know for sure that they are through to the quarters, but Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women’s league champions Equity Hawks improved their chances with an 87-48 victory over Fox Divas of Tanzania. 

This was the Bankers' last match of Group C, of the ongoing Women's Basketball League-Africa (WBL-Africa) Zone Five Qualifiers, in Zanzibar. They finish the group phase with a 2-1 ratio, having lost to Rwanda Energy Group (REG) in an 86-73 outcome. 

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Against the Tanzanians, Ben Oluoch's side started shaky, but only for five minutes as they settled in to go on a 22-point lead, they scored 9-8, but were 33-22 up as the opening quarter concluded. 

Judith Pantaleo was on fire in the first half, dropping 15 of her 19 points to lead Equity to a 49-36 as Betty Kananu who finished as the second-best scorer for Oluoch's charges sinking 11 of her 16 in the half as well. 

An 18-14 show for the Kenyan champions in the second quarter, giving them a 13-point advantage.

It is in the second half, however, where Equity did everything right going ahead 20-07 having restricted the Tanzanians to just three in the final five minutes of the period for 69-43. A final quarter 18-05 show in the final stanza sealed the deal for Oluoch's charges who finished second in their group. 

"It is a tricky format, depending on point aggregate, as teams are running scores against the weaker sides and it takes away from just playing good basketball for a win.

Player rotation has been affected," Oluoch told Mozzart Sport. "It is good to bag the win but we could have scored more. A less than 50% shooting percentage, especially on the paint is not the standard for us." 

The side had fewer turnovers 11, against 18 in the loss to REG, and the tactician admits they had to adjust their ball handling for this win. 

"It was important that we take care of the ball better and since we don't have any rest days in between matches, we had to rely on film and the statistics to make our adjustments," he continued. 

The side shifts their focus to the knockout stages set for Thursday as the group matches conclude tomorrow. 

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