Our Savior crush Privas-less Nkumba: Division One Finals

Our Savior registered their biggest win in the playoffs after. defeating Nkumba 48-34 to level the series 2-2. Top Player Privas Kayeny missed the game and is unavailable for the remainder of the series.

Avitus Ngabirano

January 30, 2025

4–6 minutes

FUBA Division 1, Nkumba Lady Marines, Our Savior Banyabo, playoffs

Our Savior Banyabo registered a huge 48-34 victory against Nkumba Lady Marines in game 4 to tie the series 2-2.

Nkumba was very poor, and talk on everyone’s lips was the gap that Privas Kayeny had left and how it would affect them for the remainder of the series.

Privas Kayeny and Penelope Amiya are part of the She Cranes team that went to participate in the Vitality Nations Netball Cup in England.

Privas, who is undoubtedly the MVP this season, leads the league in Points scored, rebounds, steals, blocks, and efficiency, and her departure is a big loss for the Lady Marines.

In the 3 games she played in the finals, she averaged 17.67 points, 24 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 3.67 steals and 6.67 blocks.

“She’s been posting double-doubles. In the last games, she had a triple-double, and she was the difference (for us). Without her, you saw that gap that was left in picking rebounds and also offensively. She created attention which created space for others to thrive” Coach Timothy commented on Privas’ absence.

Our Savior Coach Angella also commented on what the absence of Privas and Amiya meant for them.

“The 2 big girls [Privas and Amiya] have a great presence for Nkumba. [Her absence] puts us in a great position where we have all the space on the inside and we get to crush the boards comfortably. For Nkumba, they felt that gap and it was noticeable“

Our Savior came into this game on the back of a 1-point victory in game 3 courtesy of a late 3-point shot by Phiona Apio and in many ways, they had a lot of belief.

However, Nkumba looked like the better team to start the game, as they led 7-0 after 5 minutes.

Banyabo missed all their first 9 attempts and despite getting a couple of steals and making some fast breaks, they failed to convert.

However, things changed for them in the final 5 minutes of the quarter.

Nkumba’s offense wasn’t firing and Banyabo managed to score a couple of points to make it a 1-point game after the first quarter.

The situation started souring for Nkumba in the second quarter. They were plagued by turnovers and Our Savior kept punishing them.

4 of the 6 field goals that Our Savior scored were from steals, while the other 2 were putbacks.

Nkumba made 15 turnovers in the second quarter alone and this was credited to the aggressive defense that Our Savior employed.

Nkumba’s offense couldn’t fire anymore and they had just 4 points in the third quarter.

On the other hand, Our Savior kept running through them to get baskets, easily, and by the end of the quarter, Banyabo led 39-21.

Nkumba looked better in the fourth quarter but the hole in which they were was too deep to climb out of and this meant that Our Savior leveled the series 2-2.

Talking points and Coaches’ reactions

Our Savior Banyabo Coach Angella Namirimu highlighted what this victory means for them;

“This puts us in a great position to compete for the championship” she said.

Our Savior played aggressively on defense and this made Nkumba commit multiple turnovers (39) and make mistakes.

Nkumba tried to move the ball and create shots for Mellisa but Banyabo were very active and made them work for everything.

The Coach Odeke reacted about the defense that Our Savior displayed against her troops;

“Our Savior did a good homework. They cut out Mary [Ssengendo] and Mellisa [Kyazze] and those are our scorers. They also did a good job on our Point guard Shalom [Jairah].

They were aggressive on the ball, they rebounded, when there were fast breaks they took them and without our other bigs, it was always going to be tough”

Banyabo Coach also talked about the defense that they displayed and what it means going forward. She also commended her girls on their desire to win that they showed.

“We looked good on defense, we didn’t give up the open shots and if we keep up that, we stand a chance to win the games eaiser”

“The ladies wanted it. We had the desire, drive, and aggression. If you come with a heart to win, regardless of what they throw at you, the heart won’t change”

Our Savior scored 26 of their 48 points from turnovers. They forced Nkumba into 39 turnovers and this shows that their defense is working. The Lady Marines coach highlighted on the source of that problem for his side;

“We failed to control the ball from our guarding point of view. Our guards didn’t do a good job in terms of protecting the ball”

Despite outscoring Nkumba by a big margin, Our Savior had 20/83, 24% FG, and most of these were layups from turnovers. Their coach commented on their offensive struggles;

“Our offense is still shaky. We lack the consistency. We shift from doing things the easy way and we just want to do hard things”

For many, the momentum has shifted towards Our Savior and with the gap left by Privas and Amiya, most think Banyabo shall come out on top.

However, the Lady Marines Coach is still optimistic about his side;

“We still have a chance and we’ll do everything to compete”