Hawks fly past Legends to reach Zone 5 quarters

David Maina

Equity Bank Hawks romped into the quarter-finals of the FIBA Africa Zone Five Women's Club championship with a 78-37 win over Nile Legends at the Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Stadium. The bankers had a poor start in this Group 'A' game, allowing the South Sudanese to take a 3-0 lead on a trey by Deng Anyier. This seemed to stung Equity Bank but Maryanne Nyagaki's six points saw them off to an 8-5 lead. But still, Legends hanged on. Halfway through the second quarter, it was the same story as the debuting Legends refused to be cowed even as the scores read 22-15. With 2:39 minutes before the break, Equity Bank coach David Maina called a timeout which seemed to instill some urgency into the side. The experience of Shilalei Shani, Betty Kananu, Melissa Otieno and AnneRose Mandela saw them lead 39-18 at halftime. "My players thought this game was going to be easy but things turned out differently," Offered David Maina . "We were looking forward to the quarter-finals and didn't also want to spend all our energy in this game." The third quarter resumed with urgency and two consecutive baskets by Christine Akinyi propelled them to a strong 59-29 edge. In the fourth, Equity were on a roll, sinking basket after basket for a 19-8 difference that saw them easily carry the day. Caroline Akinyi bagged 14 points, Shani managed (13) and Anne Rose Mandela (10) for the winners. Legends, who lost 96-29 to Alexandria Sporting of Egypt had 20 points from Deng and 17 from Cojakaya Fiona. The bankers will know their next opponents in the quarters after all the group matches are completed.
Courtesy of: the-star.co.ke