Kenya Ports Authority coach Anthony Ojukwu is over the moon after his girls romped into the FIBA Africa Women’s Basketball League Zone Five qualifiers final following a 74-53 win over JKL Lady Dolphins of Uganda.
“It was a well-executed game plan. The girls did very well,” offered Ojukwu after the final whistle.
He went on, “On paper, JKL are hard nuts to crack but we had a game plan and it was well executed.”
He added: “They are a good running team but again our defence stood firm and bailed us out.”
The key to the victory was the Porters' strong 23-10 first-quarter advantage. The Ugandans' push in the second quarter saw them down 16-12 for a 39-22 lead at the break.
The third quarter was an even tougher battle as JKL threatened to change the tide. However, resilient KPA stood firm to lead 18-14 and tied 17-17 in the deciding stanza to reach their second final in a row.
Captain Natalie Akinyi led with 22 points, Victoria Reynolds bagged 15 and Selina Okumu managed 13 for KPA.
For the Ugandans, Maruy Amaniyo was the only one who recorded double digits as she sunk her team's 15 points. KPA had their biggest lead of 25 points with the scores standing at 70-45 in this game which had only one lead change.
Unbeaten KPA, playing in Group B beat Rwanda Energy Group (Rwanda), JKT Stars (Tanzania), Nile Legends (South Sudan), and JKL Dolphins.
On the way to their finals, the Hawks who were also unbeaten and playing in Pool A, dismissed APR (Rwanda), Vijana Queens (Tanzania), and Gladiators (Burundi).
