Ojukwu buoyed by opening win at FIBA Zone V Championship

Kenya Ports Authority head coach Anthony Ojukwu has showered her girls with praises after their grand start in the championship FIBA Africa Zone Five Women's Club Championship.

The defending champions hammered Young Sisters of Burundi 69-42 in their opener, in at Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Arena in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Monday.

“The ladies showed some character, well executed game plan and it showed they are ready for the tournament. The target expectation is to get to the medal bracket, then to the finals.

"We need to keep the spirit till the last day because we need to keep reminding ourselves of what we need to do if we are to retain the title,” Ojukwu said.

KPA began the game on a high note, racing to a 38-20 lead at the break. They faced a stronger resistance in the third quarter as Young Sisters attempted a comeback which was otherwise unsuccessful. They wound up the game with a 19-08 win in the last quarter to guarantee themselves first win of the tournament.

Shooting guard Victoria Reynolds was pulling strings at her best, scoring a game- high of 13 points as point guard and team captain Natalie Mwangale Akinyi and post player Medina Okot added nine points each.

The Dockers will finalize their group matches with REG of Rwanda on Wednesday before heading to the quarter finals stage.

In the meantime, despite the loss, Equity Hawks head coach David Maina praised her girls for the great effort they showed.

Equity lost its first game 49-51 against Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) of Egypt in their opener on Monday.

“We played well but we lost concentration in the last quarter. The positive thing is that we dominated in many areas, we also need to limit our subs and especially the last quarter in the game,” Maina said.

Equity got out to a good start in the first quarter, winning 12-10 but were outscored 15-09 in a disastrous second-quarter with ASC taking the lead of 25-21 at the break.

After the break, the bankers  tried to pull back winning third quarter 23-13 but the Egyptians winded up with a 13-05 win in the last quarter to take the game to 51-49 at the final buzzer.