The Uganda U18 Women’s Team was boosted by the addition of big man A’Maria Pegues ahead of their clash against the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire.

A’Maria is a daughter of former Silverbacks player Adarius Pegues and she is based in the United States.

The 6 foot Power forward/ Center will be expected to join forces with Melissa Taliba and cause havoc in the paint.

In their opening game, Uganda defeated neighbors, Kenya, 84-57, but Pegues did not feature as she had arrived just moments before the game.

In that game, the ladies managed to weather the storm in the third quarter after Kenya seemed to have found their footing. When that moment passed, it was one way traffic and Uganda cruised to victory.

Reasons to worry

In the opening game, Melissa Taliba got an injury in the third quarter and was forced off. Despite that, she returned in the fourth and was hobbling most of the time.

This is a very big concern for Uganda because Taliba is currently our best player and her availability/fitness highly impacts Uganda’s performance.

In case she is fit enough to play, that team will be confident that they have a defensive anchor and an offensive monster.

Why Ugandans should be optimistic

Cote d’Ivoire defeated Central Africa Republic 102-13 but this should not be a reason to fear.

First and foremost, the hosts were playing a very weak and inexperienced team and scores like this are usually expected.

However, despite that big win, they registered 32 turnovers. This is good news for Uganda because if against a weak team you can register 30+ turnovers, how about when  you play a much more composed side like Uganda.

Besides, Uganda has many runners like Maria Nanyonga and Rose Adhiambo who are very efficient in transition.

If the Junior Gazelles put enough pressure and the Ivorians cave, it will be game over.

Secondly, Uganda has size. With the addition of Pegues, there will be a lot of size in the front court for Uganda. When you have both Pegues and Taliba playing together, Uganda could dominate the paint.

Also, Atima Olivia and Josephine Aminat are very good impact players.

Thirdly, Uganda got tested against Kenya. At some point during that game, it felt as though Kenya would make a comeback. However, Uganda managed to withstand that pressure and went on to blow them out. That was very good for the team because if it’s the case in this game, they will be confident in their ability to withstand the pressure or make a comeback.

8A lot is at stake

In this game, there is a lot at stake. The game could be the determinant of who tops the pool and that is very important.

To advance to the next stage, the teams will be arranged from 1-8. The top 3 teams in each pool will occupy positions 1-3 then the second placed teams will occupy 4-6 while the 2 best third placed teams will be 7 and 8.

Finishing in the top 3 means that you face 6,7 or 8 in the quarter-finals who will be weaker. However, if you finish 4-6, you will most probably face a tough opponent (opponent of the same quality) which makes the game difficult.

So, Uganda has to make sure that they secured a win against Cote d’Ivoire do as to increase their chances of facing a not so strong team in the quarter-finals.

The game will take place on Saturday 8th August with tipoff 7:00 pm EAT.