The JT Lady Jaguars defeated the UCU Lady Canons 57-52 in a game where they had to fight through to secure the win.

UCU Lady Canons came into this game with a lot of confidence and for moments, they looked the better side.

The JT Lady Jaguars came into this game on the back of a narrow, 68-67 defeat, their first in the season, against the KCCA Leopards.

Returning to winning ways was crucial but they didn’t start the game like a team that wanted the win.

JT was scoreless in the first 5 minutes of the game, the longest they have gone without a point this season.

The Lady Canons led the game 19-10 but it was because of the offensive rebounds that they managed to register.

They collected 8 offensive boards on the first quarter alone and managed to score 12 second-chance points.

On the flip side, they made 7 turnovers, although they got away with it as the Lady Jaguars scored just 4 points from turnovers.

Tables turned around in the second quarter and the Jaguars took over.

The JT Lady Jaguars made an 11-0 run to take a 3-point lead.

UCU Lady Canons also went scoreless for more than 5 minutes in the second quarter.

The Lady Canons woke up and made late baskets to send the game into the halftime break 30 a piece.

Both teams had their turns in the third quarter, UCU taking a 10-point lead with just above 3 minutes left in the game.

They however did not score in the remainder of the quarter and the Lady Jaguars cut their deficit to 3 points ahead of the fourth quarter.

It was a very poor offensive fourth quarter performance by UCU as they scored just 5 points but the fact that they had a 4-point lead with under 2 minutes to play shows how bad also the Lady Jaguars were.

Maimuna Nabbosa scored a huge 3-point shot and a free throw shortly after to tie the game.

Mercy Batamuliza gave the Jaguars the lead a few moments later after picking an offensive rebound and getting the finish under the noses of the the Lady Canons.

UCU were unable to get off a good shot in the final minutes and Rhoda Nagitta delivered the dagger with under 30 seconds left.

Talking points

Shooting

The nature of this game was peculiar, so to say because of a number of things but one that was evident was the inability of the Lady Jaguars to put the ball in the hole despite having numerous attempts.

JT created so many open shots, matter of fact, they had 20 more attempts than UCU but the basket seemed to evade them.

The Lady Jaguars attempted 41 3-point shots, most of them being wide open.

Truth is, you can’t fault them for taking the shots, because they were so daring and even the worst shooter would chosen to attempt.

The negative to this is the fact that the Lady Jaguars scored just 6 of their 41 attempts and considering how much time they had to get off a good shot, that conversion rate is nothing but atrocious.

On a good day, they would have scored more than 20 of those attempts and possibly scored 100+ against the UCU Canons.

Rebounds

In the first half, UCU did very well, cleaning up the boards.

They scored 12 second-chance points in the first quarter alone and registered a 8 offensive rebounds.

The Lady Jaguars registered just 5 rebounds in the first quarter.

After that first quarter, UCU was not as good, on offensive rebounds, but they still managed to do their job defensively and clean up most of the defensive rebounds until the fourth quarter.

JT Lady Jaguars out-rebounded the Lady Canons 19-16 in the fourth quarter and they managed to collect 8 offensive rebounds.

In the end, the ‘winning’ basket for them also came from an offensive rebound.

Turnovers

One of the biggest problems for the Lady Canons has been the turnovers.

In this game, this problem cost them a lot.

UCU gave away 35 points and were punished with 28 points from turnovers.

On a day were the Lady Jaguars had a very poor outing from the shots, UCU gifted them with some easy baskets and this won them the game.

Match Stats

JT Lady Jaguars

Maimuna Nabbosa 12 pts, 2 reb

Mercy Batamuliza 6 pts, 9 reb, 4 stl

Rhoda Nagitta 7 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 7 stl

UCU Lady Canons

Martina Anyango 12 pts, 11 reb

Sylivia Nantongo 11 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl

Shillah Lamunu 11 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk

JT Lady Jaguars managed to bounce back from their defeat to the KCCA Leopards and now have a 5-1 record.

They take on Nabisunsa next on Saturday 26th at UCU, Mukono.

UCU Lady Canons now have a 4-3 record for the season.

They will return to action on Wednesday 30th at YMCA.