Uganda Gazelles bounce back with classic win over Egypt

Jannon Otto led Uganda with a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds

ZONE V QUALIFIERS Uganda Gazelles bounce back with classic win over Egypt

Peter Tabu • 07:33 - 16.02.2023

Like was the case against Kenya, Jannon Jaye Otto and Hope Akello stood out with double doubles. Jannon posted 27 points and 12 boards while Akello had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Fiba Women's Zone V AfroBasket Qualifiers

Results

Rwanda 40-54 South Sudan

Uganda 86-85 Egypt

The Uganda Gazelles dramatically left it late and boosted their chances of qualifying for the Women's Afrobasket with an 86-85 victory over Egypt on Wednesday evening at the MTN Lugogo Arena.

Like was the case against Kenya, Jannon Jaye Otto and Hope Akello stood out with double doubles. Otto posted 27 points and 14 boards while Akello had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Brenda Ekone added 13 points while Flavia Oketcho and Maria Najjuma each had 10 points.

Raneem Elgedhawi led Egypt's best performers with a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds while and Mohamed Sayed and  Soraia Mohammed each had 17 points.

A slow start it was in the first quarter, with three minutes to the end, Egypt led 19-12 and Soraya's three pointer gave the Egyptians a 10-point lead but Uganda cut that by four, ending the quarter at 28-22.

The second quarter saw Uganda try to cut the gap from the start, Otto picked up a foul basket to make it 28-27 before Hope Akello's lay up made it 29-28 to give the hosts their first lead in the game.

Uganda went on to dominate and end the first half with a 12-point advantage (38-50), a performance that was replicated in the third quarter.

The final quarter saw the Gazelles have a 10-point lead but Ranheem Elgehdwai and Soraia refused to give up, reducing the lead to a single point.

With 10 seconds left on the game, Uganda led by just a point (86-85) with Egypt inbounding but Flavia Oketcho made a vital steal which literally wrapped up the action with the capacity crowd appreciating the Gazelles' fight.

For Gazelles head coach Alberto Antuna, the team had nothing to lose.

He said: "We had nothing to lose but also the girls wanted to prove in front of the crowd that we have to compete at Afrobasket so it was a huge result. We shall now go back and rest as we prepare for our next game."

Next up for the Gazelles is South Sudan on Thursday.

Tags: