L. MathekaLionesses face formidable Egypt with semis placing top priority
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 14.07.21. | 09:32
Lionesses have picked one win in two matches and the result against Egypt determines their opponent in the semi final.
National women's basketball team, Kenya Lionesses, renew their rivalry with Egypt when they take to the court at Kigali Arena on Wednesday, 14 July at 4pm (EAT) in what is their last match of the preliminary stage of the ongoing FIBA Afrobasket Zone Five qualifiers.
Lionesses, have picked one win, a 67-48 victory over newbies on Tuesday, just a day after falling to Rwanda 77-45 in their opening match. Egypt on the other hand have picked two wins, including a comeback from a 10-point deficit at half time to beat Rwanda in a 59-71 outcome.
Egypt 🇪🇬 was able to defeat the Zone 5 Qualifiers host, Rwanda 🇷🇼, 71-59. A game controlled by the home team until their opponent played better in the second half.#AfroBasket #women pic.twitter.com/5XyRjeIpi2
— FIBA Women's Afrobasket (@afrobasketwomen) July 13, 2021
Hagar Amer and Meral Abdelgawad engineered an Egypt play by play fightback that brought out the best of their defense skills, forcing Rwanda to make rushed decisions that led to one turnover after another as Egypt moved from a 29-39 scoreline at half time to assume the lead at 52-51in the fourth period. The third quarter had ended in a 49 all draw.
As Lionesses head to their match against Egypt, they will need to play a better match than they did against their last two opponents. Having tried a man-to-man defense against Rwanda to their detriment, coach George Mayienga is likely to avoid a similar approach in the Egypt match unless he can find a way to make it work for his charges.
Game 1 of the day booked the victory of @teamlioness254 over @SSBFed 66-48, thanks to Koranga's 23 points, finishing top scorer of the game.#AfroBasket #women pic.twitter.com/WpXNGgCFZR
— FIBA Women's Afrobasket (@afrobasketwomen) July 13, 2021
"I believe we have a chance in this last match. We have played against each other before but none of that matters now. Whoever plays their game to the last whistle takes the win and we will be at it to the last bit," said Lionesses' Felmas Koranga who top scored for her side in their match against South Sudan.
Against South Sudan, Kenya cut down on her turnovers from 33 when they played against Rwanda to 17 while forcing South Sudan to give up possession 26 times.
A win for Egypt will see them top the standings while Kenya finish a likely third if Rwanda who face South Sudan in their last match of the preliminary stage as well pick a win.
For the semi finals set for Friday, 16 July, the top placed team after the preliminary stage will play the fourth placed team while number two play number three in the other semi.
