Storms blunt Strathmore’s Swords to reach semi-finals

Storm's Joy Adongo (left) and Pamela Sinda of Strathmore University during playoffs at Nyayo Gymnasium. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Storms rallied from a game down to beat Strathmore University Swords 2-1 and reach the semis of this year’s Kenya Basketball Federation women’s Premier League play-offs.

Led by veteran Angela Luchivya, Storms bounced back from a disappointing loss in Game One to beat the students and secure their place in the last four.

Yesterday, they beat Swords 66-62 in a scintillating tie at Nyayo Stadium Gymnasium to book a date semi-final date with the winner of the quarters clash pitting Kenya Ports Authority and Eagle Wings.

Strathmore squeezed a narrow 42-39 Game One win last Saturday but Storms would come back stronger in game two to thrash the students 70-54 in the second tie for a 1-1 draw and secure yesterday’s decisive clash.

Thanks to Cylia Atieno and Linet Atieno, Storms came from four points down at the breather to rule the second half.

Swords took a 16-15 lead at the end of the first period before scoring 14 points against Storms 11 in the second and take a 30-26 halftime advantage.

They dominated the third and fourth quarters scoring 40 points against Swords’ 32 to lock out the students from the semis.

In men’s Division One, University of Nairobi’s Terror and Kenyatta University Pirates took a 1-0 lead each after winning their respective semi-final play-offs.

Terror beat Zetech University Titans 46-36 while Pirates edged out Africa Nazarene University (ANU) 77-71.

Pharez Adala top scored for Terror with 13 points while William Okombo led Titans with 12.

A slow start proved costly for Zetech Titans as they found themselves trailing by 11 points as Terror led 14-3 by the end of the first quarter.

Titans were more composed in the second quarter scoring 13 points against Terror’s eight narrowing the difference to six.

However, they fumbled again in the third period allowing Terror to take control of the game once again and extend their lead to 11 points.

The final quarter was balanced with Titans scoring 12 points one more than their opponents but it was Terror that carried the day to take a game advantage.

Pirates staged a brilliant a brilliant show to beat ANU. Trailing 14-19 after the first quarter, Pirates battled to take a 40-39 halftime lead.

ANU came back stronger in the third quarter to score 22 points against KU’s 15 to regain the lead with a six point advantage. A concentration lapse in the final quarter saw Pirates score at will as ANU struggled to contain them.

 

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