Results and Fixtures:
Tuesday
*South Sudan 68-83 Egypt
*Uganda 53-61 Kenya
Wednesday
*Rwanda 40-54 South Sudan
*Egypt 85-86 Uganda
Thursday
*Kenya 69-58 Rwanda
*Uganda 74-53 South Sudan
Friday
*Rwanda 56-102 Egypt
*South Sudan 51-80 Kenya
Saturday
*Egypt Vs Kenya – 3pm
*Uganda Vs Rwanda – 6pm
Sunday
*Third Place – 3pm
*Final – 6pm
Table (Win-Loss)
- Kenya (3-0)
- Uganda (2-1)
- Egypt (2-1)
- South Sudan (1-3)
- Rwanda (0-3)
Uganda’s Senior National Women Basketball Team, the Gazelles, will return to 2023 FIBA Zone Five Afrobasket Qualifiers on Saturday against Rwanda at Lugogo Indoor Arena.
The Gazelles had a rest day on Friday, the time they used to pay a courtesy visit to Parliament of Uganda where the team was hosted by Speaker Hon Anitah Among.
After a false start against defending Champions Kenya, Uganda regained her mojo with back-to-back victories over Egypt and South Sudan.
And they sit second on the five-team log going into the final day of the group.
The top two teams after Saturday’s games will compete for Sunday’s final where the winner will earn a ticket to Afrobasket Championship in Kigali Rwanda due July/August this year.
The Gazelles who missed the 2021 Zone V Championship due to financial constraints, are well aware that this is good chance to qualify for Afrobasket while on home soil.
Uganda has played at Women Afrobasket only twice (1997 and 2015).
Against Rwanda, the Gazelles will once again rely on top performers including Jannon Otto, Hope Akello, Brenda Ekone and Flavia Oketcho to deliver.
The Permutations – Who needs what?
The reality is that the top two places will be taken by either Kenya, Uganda or Egypt.
Uganda, to finish among the top two, will have to beat Rwanda then pray that Kenya beats Egypt, a result that will cast the Pharaohs out of the equation having lost their second match.
A win for Egypt (if Uganda beat Rwanda) will mean that they have tied with Kenya and Uganda on win-loss record.
And the classification will be determined by games played amongst the three teams.
The first criteria is on Higher game points difference of the games between the three teams – Uganda as it stands has a negative seven (beat Egypt by one point, having lost to Kenya by eight).
Points differences amongst the three teams as it stands:
*Kenya (8)
*Egypt (-1)
*Uganda (-7)
In summary, an Egypt win over Kenya must be by more than 15 points, for Uganda to reach the final.
Kenya’s permutations are simple: Beat Egypt or lose by less than 15 points to reach the final.
For Egypt, beat Kenya and reach the final. Whatever the score-line.
