UPDF battle but the JKL Lady Dolphins finish business in fourth

The 71-54 scoreline doesn’t do the game justice as the UPDF Lady Tomahawks fought, and put up a show which most people did not anticipate given the uphill task that was in front of them. To the amusement of many, the army side led 19-17 after the first quarter, Sandra Asiimwe hitting a 3 on…

2bob Sports

April 11, 2024

2–3 minutes

Jkl Lady Dolphins, National Basketball League, UPDF Lady Tomahawks

The 71-54 scoreline doesn’t do the game justice as the UPDF Lady Tomahawks fought, and put up a show which most people did not anticipate given the uphill task that was in front of them.

To the amusement of many, the army side led 19-17 after the first quarter, Sandra Asiimwe hitting a 3 on the buzzer.

The second quarter was another even match-up, end-to-end action but the JKL Lady Dolphins closed the quarter with a 5:0 run that gave them the advantage heading into the halftime break.

Generous Grant (Black) playing defense on Kush Nakazzi 📸 Toni Kamau

The Lady Tomahawks’ defense elevated to greater heights in the third quarter. The Lady Dolphins had 2 points in the final 5 minutes of the quarter and they made 0 field goals during that time. The double team on Hope Akello worked wonders for them as it became very difficult for her to score.

Despite being defensively sound, the UPDF offense did not capitalise as they only scored 10 points in the quarter.

It was one-way traffic in the final quarter, UPDF made error after error and JKL was present to punish.

UPDF had 9 turnovers in the fourth quarter, and to make things worse, they couldn’t attack the paint due to the presence of Becky Longom and Hope Akello. 5 of their 10 points in the quarter came from the free throw line, and the other 3 from distance.

Becky Longom took over the game in the fourth quarter, with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist in 7:45 minutes. She was named Player of the Game after finishing with a game-high 16 points, on 72% FG.

Match Stats

JKL Lady Dolphins

Becky Keren Longom 16 pts, 14 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk

Hope Akello 12 pts, 16 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk

Brenda Ekone 16 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl

UPDF Lady Tomahawks

Christine Namyalo 12 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk

Dorah Nakijjoba 5 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl

Linda Michelle Aber 8 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk

Sandra Asiimwe 11 pts, 3 3PM,

Match Facts

Christine Namyalo finished round 1 as the only player to score 10+ points in every game she played (10).