Kenya faces Egypt in a must win match today

Felmas Koranga in action for Kenya at Afrobasket. [Courtesy]

Kenya’s Lioness bounced back from a disappointing opening match defeat to Rwanda to beat South Sudan 66-48 yesterday in the ongoing 2021 Women’s Fiba AfroBasket Zone Five qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.

US-based forward Felmas Koranga scored a game high 23 points followed by Victoria Reynolds with 12 points with captain Rose Ouma and Mercy Wanyama each scoring points to give Kenya their first win of the competition.

Kenya went into yesterday’s game after starting on the wrong foot in their disappointing 77-45 loss to hosts Rwanda and needed a win to remain in contention for the solitary ticket to play in the upcoming AfroBasket games slated for September 17-26 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The Lioness dominated the opening three quarters to lead 16-9, 10-5 and 21-10 in the first, second and third quarters respectively before South Sudan bagged the last final quarter 24-19.

Kenya started on a high note with the US-based duo of Reynolds and Koranga scoring seven points and four points respectively with Wanyama and Mwangale adding two and three points respectively to lead 16-9.

Koranga and Reynolds came in hard again in the second quarter scoring six and three points respectively as Kenya maintained a 12-point gap of 26-14 at the break.

Troy University’s Koranga would drop seven points in the third quarter as Kenya Lioness opened a 23 point gap by the end of the quarter in a massive 47-24 lead.

Despite a late attempt by South Sudan to narrow the scores, the Kenyans held on their nerves to win 66-48 in the final quarter where Koranga added six points as Reynolds and Ouma added four points.

Kenya will face Egypt in their final match today, a match they must win to stand a chance of going through to the main event.

Kenya are coached by George Mayienga. The 53-year-old tactician was appointed the new Lioness coach after long serving coach Ronnie Owino left the team on mutual consent.