The Uganda Gazelles got a beating from Mozambique in a 26 point game for the 5-8 classification game. The Gazelles were punished on almost every occasion when they made an error and this seemed to just go on for the whole game.
Uganda came into the game after a sore loss against Rwanda in the quarter finals, in a game which saw Jane Asinde go off injured and the Gazelles fighting hard in the last minutes of the game.
Mozambique also came into this one after losing out to defending champions Nigeria despite having a 7 point lead midway the fourth quarter.
Mozambique didn’t waste time as they started strongly shooting efficiently and thus got a 13 point lead to close the quarter.
The Gazelles however recollected and came back stronger in the second quarter. The Gazelles evidently fought hard, but every time they seemed to gain momentum, they made either a turnover or a foul and Mozambique were able to capitalise. The Game went into half time with the Gazelles trailing 9 points.
The third quarter was characterized with both teams capitalizing on their opponents errors. The Mozambique lead Ballooned to 17 mid way the quarter but the Gazelles went on a 9:2 run to close the quarter and make it a 10 point game.
The Gazelles offense did not turn up in the fourth quarter as they managed to only score 7 points.
Besides the shots not being able to fall, the turnover debacle continued and Mozambique was loving every moment of it. For every turnover, Mozambique seemed to score extending the lead further and further away from Uganda.
Match stats
Janon Otto again led the scoring for Uganda with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist.
Claire Lamunu (12 points, 7 rebs, 55% FG, 1 blk, 1 stl) and Lydia Babirye (12 points, 3 ast, 1 stl, 44%FG) both stepped up their game after it had dipped against Rwanda.
Hope Akello was 100% from the field scoring all her 3 attempts and getting 7 points and 5 rebounds.
Mozambique had multiple sources of offense but three people stood out the most.
Ingvild da Ofilia Agostinho Mucauro led the scoring with 23 points, 100% from 2P and 4 of 9 3PM. She added 2 assists and 5 steals to her stats.
Tamara Seda scored 17 points, 64%FG, 11 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Odelia Mafanela posted 16 points, 87.5% FG, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.
Gazelles registered a very awful 30 turnovers and a result, Mozambique got 36 points from turnovers.
Gazelles shot 22/59, 37.3% FG, and only 4/14 from 3P compared to 33/65, 50.77% FG and 9 3 point shots made for Mozambique.
Mozambique also had active hands shared the ball nicely coming up with 17 steals and 32 assists compared to Uganda’s 9 and 10 respectively.
Both teams went to the free throw line 20 times despite Mozambique having more fouls (19) than Uganda (15).
Mozambique also got 32 bench points compared to just 14 for Uganda.
Key takeaways
Lack of a consistent second scorer, Janon Otto has been balling and shooting lights out bit she’s struggled abit having to take difficult shots and thus her shooting efficiency has dipped. This however has been mainly down due to the lack of a second scorer that the Gazelles can trust to shoot that ball.
The Turnovers continued to haunt the Gazelles and it is safe to say that’s one of the areas which Mozambique utilized most. The Gazelles registered 30 turnovers 6 from Otto, 5 from Flavia and 7 from Babirye. This poses a question, should Evelyn maybe get play time? She maybe could take care of the ball more.
The lack of usage of the bench players, Gazelles scored only 14 points off the bench compared to Mozambique’s 32.
Hope Akello got just 14:51 and she was perfect from the field with 7 points, Priscilla Abey was also perfect, scoring her 1 attempt in the 03:22 she played. Ritah Iman and Evelyn Nakiyinji didn’t get play time whereas Maria Najjuma got just 2:19.
Inability to defend the 3 point line was also another of the issues that the Gazelles continue to face, they gave away 23 shots attempts (mostly open) but Mozambique only managed to bury 9.
The most notable improvement was on the number of personal fouls as they managed to register only 16 this time around.
It was also commendable that the girls fought very hard more so in the second quarter to try to get back in the game despite losing it in the fourth.
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