)
Alongside Jannon Otto, Ekone led Uganda’s charge on offence
The Uganda Gazelles might have lost to Egypt in the Fiba women’s Zone V AfroBasket Qualifiers final but they won hearts of many Ugandans.
The fully packed Lugogo Indoor Stadium seemed to agree in unison that Alberto Antuna’s side had lost to a much better and experienced team.
And it is easy to focus on the result while ignoring the performance but shooting guard Brenda Ekone believes the girls left everything on court Sunday night and cannot have any regrets.
“The game was really tight. The girls fought,” Ekone, who scored 22 points to lead the Gazelles on the night said.
“We fought so much but maybe the luck wasn’t on our side, if I may say,” she added.
The Pharaohs had a score to settle with Uganda after the hosts won the group game 86-85. And it was the North African who had the last laugh, their 74-65 victory enough to book them a direct ticket to Kigali, Rwanda for the finals.
“The girls left it all on court,” the JKL Lady Dolphins guard noted.
Alongside Jannon Otto, Ekone led Uganda’s charge on offence and was a thorn in the flesh of every team Uganda played.
She averaged 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 27.42 minutes.
Her explosiveness in transition left the entire Lugogo in awe with many chanting ‘MVP’ every time she completed a spectacular play.
“Thank you so much to the fans for coming in big numbers. Thanks for supporting us. We are so grateful.”
The Gazelles will now await official confirmation from Fiba to know whether they will be in Kigali for the finals on a wild card.
Zone V already has two representatives, Egypt, the winners of the qualifiers and Rwanda, the hosts but Uganda’s performance that saw them finish second, ahead of Kenya should be enough to attract a wild card.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)