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L. MathekaIt's Lionesses' time to roar
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 17.07.21. | 11:32
Kenya are looking to return to the continental showpiece, having made cut in 2019 by virtue of a wild card, and better their performance on the stage.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man! So who will it be, amongst the 12 disciples of coach George Mayienga, to lead the Kenya Lionesses to the promised land?
The national women's basketball side take on Egypt in the final of the FIBA Afrobasket Zone Five qualifiers on Saturday,17 July from 7 pm (EAT) with a ticket to the Afrobasket in the offing for the winner.
Lionesses have already proved to themselves and to anyone who watched their preliminary group match against the Pharaohs that they have it within themselves to pick a win against the highly tactical opposition.
🏀| With a ticket to this year's Afrobasket up for grabs, Lionesses avenged defeat against Rwanda in the semis and will now take on Egypt in the FIBA Afrobasket Zone Five qualifiers final set for Saturday, 17 July.#AfroBasketQualifiers #KenyaLionesses
— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) July 16, 2021
https://t.co/VIqEAaJRFC
In a match Mayienga's charges led by 25 points at halftime, they went on to lose by half a basket at 107-106, second-half turnovers and missed easy baskets proving the difference for Lionesses in the defeat.
As they look to create history by being the first Kenyan squad to beat Egypt in a zone five encounter, an approach to full-court press from the opposition will play a huge role in ensuring Lionesses can punch the ticket to the September 17 to 26 Afrobasket.
Conversion rate while under the pressure of such a press should worry Mayienga. In the Lionesses semis match against Rwanda, the latter scored ten points in the first two minutes of the final quarter with Kenya managing nine. For the three minutes that followed, however, Lionesses failed to score.
Team Egypt 🇪🇬 remains undefeated as they got the W against @teamlioness254 🇰🇪 in a very tight game at the end of the 4th. Final score 107-106. pic.twitter.com/cRw6m95doa
— FIBA Women's Afrobasket (@afrobasketwomen) July 14, 2021
With 3:54 to play, Rose Ouma converted one free throw and Brenda Wasuda added a basket. The rims dried again until the last 50 seconds of the match when Christine Akinyi bagged a three-pointer and a fast-break basket before the final whistle.
Against Egypt, Kenya scored 18 points against the opponent's 31 in the third period and 22 in the final quarter against Egypt's 35. Additionally, in the first half of the encounter, Kenya had forced Egypt to give up possession 14 times but Egypt were clinical in the second half, allowing only three. Lionesses also had 17, a majority from the second half.
Depth and rotation proceed the winner for Egypt as they had 82 bench points while Kenya managed 32.
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