KPA raid Equity Bank for Fiba title

Selina Okumu of KPA Ladies in league action. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Kenya Ports Authority women basketball team was on Tuesday night declared the undisputed Fiba-Africa Zone V Club champions after they beat Equity Bank in an all-Kenyan final affair in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

It was a sweet victory for KPA who lost the title in 2018 to the bankers.

In the deciding match at the National Indoor Stadium, KPA demolished Equity 71-35 to become the new champions and for the 10th time in their 19 years of participation.

Uganda’s JKL Dolphins won the 2019 edition but did not travel to Tanzania to defend the title after they pulled out of this year’s competition.

In the Tuesday night match, KPA got off well to win the first quarter 19-17 before winning the second quarter 16-10 for a comfortable 35-27 lead at halftime. The bankers completely lost concentration in the third set as they lost 12-2 before KPA wrapped up the victory with a 24-6 win in the fourth set.

Claire Lamunu, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, topped with 19 points for KPA, with Natalia Mwangale contributing 18 more points. Victoria Reynolds and Betty Kalanga had 11 and 10 points respectively.

Led by coach David Maina, Equity had Maithima Kananu and Melisa Otieno scoring 13 and seven points respectively.

"We thank God we won the match. It was two great teams with great performance. My girls showed a lot of character and resilience in the tournament,” said Ojukwu.

“We started well but we lost concentration in the second half,” said Maina.