The opening game of the 2026 NBL season was one to forget for the newcomers Pearl Queens as they were handed an unwelcome welcome to the league to the big boys.

The 2025 NBL Finalits, the JT Lady Jaguars thumped Pearl Queens, 74-29, in what was a very easy victory for them.

To understand this game, I’ll like you to put your imagination to use. This game was like David versus Goliath but this time around, Goliath won.

Coming into this game, there was a lot of uncertainty regarding how the Pearl Queens would play given that they were assembled not so long ago.

However, everyone knew the thr3at that the JT Lady Jaguars posed more so in defense.

They have been the best defensive team over thr last 2 seasons and we knew that they would give the Queens a hard time.

After the first quarter, Pearl Queens was limited to just 6 points while the Lady Jaguars had 17.

Brenda Kayaga was on fire as she scored the first 8 points for the Kira side with 2 3-point shots.

In the second quarter, Mary Priscillar Nambogo also got her moment. She sunk a couple of triples and 2 free throws to make it 8 points to her name.

The Lady Jaguars were like a rolling stone, easily finding their way while Pearl Queens found it very hard to score a basket.

At thr halftime break, the game was 38-15 and to be honest, basing on how the two teams were playing, it was over as a contest.

In the second half, Pearl Queens managed just 14 points with 6 coming from the free throw line.

Player Stats

JT Lady Jaguars

Brenda Kayaga 17 pts, 2 ast

Mary Priscillar Nambogo 12 pts, 2 reb

Sarah Ageno 7 pts, 9 reb

Pearl Queens

Rosiana Mungwapa Mpokfuri 13 pts, 9 reb

Jane Chisom Iriele 6 pts, 11 reb

What did we learn from this game?

Rosiana Mungwapa is a person who who cause some teams problems. We saw her hustle for the ball and putting in a lot of effort. With her size, teams need to be ready for her.

The coach needs to find a quick solution for the point guard situation at Pearl Queens. Ballo and Rose all work with the ball in their hands. In this game, we saw the coach start both with Ballo with the number one but it didn’t work.

She tried to tweak with Fildauce and also Patience Karungi but it was a bad day for them.

Bridget Aber was a defensive force. She came in and took care of business, exactly the reason they brought her.

Despite this victory being huge, the Lady Jaguars were not on their A game. You feel like they can do so much better. Aber missed some easy layups which ordinary she wouldn’t and thr scoreline would have been bigger.

Many things went wrong for Pearl Queens but one that they need to work on instantly is the missed free throws.

They missed 14 of 21 attempts which is very disappointing. Solutions to that problem need to be found ASAP.

Pearl Queens face the KCCA Leopards next on Friday 13th at Lugogo.

The JT Lady Jaguars return to action on Wednesday 11th as they host they host another newly promoted side ,Victoria She Crocs, at the Jaguars Den in Kira.