National women’s basketball team Kenya Lionesses let go their Africa Zone Five title to Egypt, after coming up third on the final day of the tournament in Kampala on Sunday.
The Lionesses got the better of South Sudan 64-30 to secure bronze with Madina Okot shining with a double-double of 18 points and 16 assists while Victoria Reynolds also recorded double digits with 10 points.
The Lionesses initially dropped to the third-place play off after losing out to eventual champions Egypt in the last round game, who also ended winning against hosts Uganda thus clinching title.
The Lionesses had a dominant game against South Sudan, taking control of the game from the first to the last quarter.
After failing to reach the final, the Lionesses chances of qualification to both the FIBA Afro-basket and the Africa Games this year have gone up in smoke.
Head coach George Mayienga said Egypt were the hungrier of the two teams in that make-or-break fixture.
“They came to revenge the loss in Kigali two years ago. From the start, they showed they really wanted this win more. They stayed to watch our game against South Sudan and seemed to have picked some vital tips,” said Mayienga.
Kenya started their campaign with a 61-53 win over Uganda, hit South Sudan 80-51 and Rwanda 69-58 respectively before falling to Egypt in the last of their round robin matches.
KBF assistant secretary Angela Luchivya said that talks are in progress with FIBA Africa to see if Kenya can get a wild card to the 2023 AfroBasket in Kigali, Rwanda in July.
“Since Rwanda will be hosting the AfroBasket, we hope that we can get a slot as the second team from the Zone. But this will also depend on if there are entries from other zones,” said Luchivya, who headed the delegation in Kampala.
According to Luchivya, Kenya is also pushing to host the Under-16 tournament and the FIBA Africa Women Club Championships later this year.
As it stands, Kenya’s only hope for international basketball remains the 3×3 Olympic Qualifiers since the loss to Egypt knocked Lionesses out of the FIBA Afro Basket and the All Africa Games.
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