The Uganda Gazelles had a perfect start to the 2025 Afrobasket Zone V Qualifiers in Cairo, Egypt after defeating Kenya 78-56 in their opener.

The Gazelles came into the game without the services of Melissa Akullu and Jamila ‘Zama’ Nansinkombi, who are yet to arrive in Cairo, but their performance was phenomenal.

Uganda dominated the opening quarter both offensively and defensively and they led the game 23-11.

Kenya scored just 2/16 field goals, and this was due to the amount of pressure that the Gazelles applied, and they made it very difficult for the Kenyans to score.

Jane Asinde and Paige Robinson were fired up in the first quarter and they scored 7/8 FG, and 17 of the 23 points for Uganda.

The second quarter was competitive and ended in a tie, but Kenya scored the final 5 points of the quarter and hit a triple, which was disallowed as it went off after the time had expired.

However, Uganda still led the game 40-28 as the halftime break approached.

Kenya lost the game in the third quarter because their offense was really off as they scored just 9 points.

On the other hand, Uganda scored 17 and took a 20-point lead with one period left.

Jane scored 8 points to add to her 15 and she was the first and only player to reach 20+ points.

The fourth quarter was also evenly contested, but the lead attained by Uganda was huge, and Kenya couldn’t come back.

Youngsters Modesta Anyango Maxine and Bushira Namayanja were introduced in the final minutes of the game and each had some contributions.

Coach and Player reactions

“I’m happy that we were able to go out there and compete,” Coach Nicholas said on the victory against Kenya.

“We did most of the things we wanted to do tonight which was getting stops on defense and getting to run out in transition.

We got a good number of points in transition which helped us set the tone for the game and build an early lead” he added.

Veteran player Claire Lamunu also shared some post game insights;

“I’m very proud of the girls. We are a very young team and this is great experience”

“The thing that made us win this game is that we were very aggressive”

Claire commented on what Uganda needs to do to win against Egypt on Tuesday;

“We need to take care of the basketball more and convert our free throws”

Game Stats

Uganda

Jane Asinde 24 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl

Shakirah Nanvubya 14 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl

Paige Robinson 15 pts, 2 reb, 6 ast

Claire Lamunu 8 pts, 5 reb, 3 blk

Kenya

Mercy Wanyama 12 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast

Victoria Reynolds 13 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast

Uganda face hosts Egypt next on Tuesday at 19:00 EAT.