According to FIBA, Egypt outplayed reigning FIBA Africa Zone 5 champions Kenya on Saturday, while hosts Uganda was forced to step up against Rwanda.
The Ugandans had to work extra hard to dim a determined Rwandese side 78-70 in a fiercely fought tie to set up a finals date against Egypt who outclassed Kenya 82-57.
Uganda urged on by their fans and stars Hope Akello, Brenda Ekone, and Janno Otto full of running rampaged to a 23-9 in the opening quarter. But they found out that Rwanda, who had lost all three games, had a very different proposition in the second quarter.
Led by their battle-hardened Odile Otero, Marie Lawrence, and Diamond Richardson, the Rwandese clawed back to take the second stanza with a 24-18 cushion.
A fiercely fought last half then saw both sides trade baskets settling for a 17-17 and 20-20 in the last two quarters.
The host then left it late pulling away from a 64-64 and 65-65 deadlock to claim an energy-sapping win. The determined Rwandese gave it their all putting up a surprisingly stunning show.
Brenda Ekone bravely raced away to give the home team a 68-66 cushion before making a foul shot for a three-point play. And after working Otto nailed a basket that saw Uganda gain momentum and sail away 72-66.
The top performer for Uganda was Hope Akello, who notched 15 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and had 4 assists and 5 steals. But the leading scorers were Jannon Otto and Hope Ekone who picked up 22 points each.
The battle-hardened Rwandese side led by top performer Asama Uweizeye who nailed 19 points, snatched 11 rebounds while dishing out two assists to go with 2 steals.
Kenya played a game they would want to forget in a hurry going down 82-57 to Egypt earlier in the day. It was Egypt who took a 4-0 lead on opening baskets by Raneem Elgadawy before Medina Okot scored to tie it 4-4.
A fired-up Elgadawy then bagged 9 out of her team’s opening 10 points to lift Egypt to a first-quarter lead of 21-16 as the quarter ended. Nothing went right for Kenya as soon as the second stanza started even as Rose Ouma and Victoria Reynolds pulled them close at 21-19.
A sharp shooting Egyptians had a superb second quarter completely dominating the proceedings with a huge 28-13 margin.
When Nourhan Ahmed scored on a drive and sunk another, it ignited Egypt who continued to punch holes in their porous defense.
A dominant Egypt roared away to a 50-29 advantage as both teams retired for the break. At that point in time, Elgedawy had already bagged 20 points to her credit.
Mercy Wanyama’s free throws saw Kenya cut the margin to 54-31 before Nadine Mohamed drove the lanes and Fatma Aly’s easy basket inside saw Egypt then push away 57-31.
Upon resumption, Rose Ouma wished a three-pointer saw Kenya go on a 7-0 run but Egypt called a time and stretched the lead to 67-41 building a 26-point advantage and it was all over.
Eldegawy was Egypt’s top performer torching Kenya for 23 points, hauling 11 rebounds, and having 5 steals to go with 3 assists. Egypt connected for five treys.
Nadine Mohamed collected 13, Abdelhawad 12 while Soraia Deghady and Asrar Bakr nailed 11 each. For Kenyans, Wanyama registered 13 and Ouma 11.
