19 December 2012
UGANDA : One final throw of dice for KCCA, UCU Lady Canons
UCU’s point guard Angela Namirimu evades a block from KCCA’s Hilda Naigaga (R) in one of the recent Fuba playoff finals matches. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
By ISMAIL DHAKABA KIGONGO
It was almost impossible to predict that the final game of the Fuba League season would be the women’s final – match number 619 – when this term started back in April.
Precedents had been set by UCU Lady Canons that the division is a near one-team show. The university side have won the last two titles with 4-0 series margins, beating KCCA Leopards on both occasions.
They have been made to dig deeper by KCCA this time.
They have been made to dig deeper by KCCA this time.
The two finalists are tied at 3-up in the best-of-seven series and today’s Game Seven at the Lugogo MTN Arena is needed to decide a champion.
And the KCCA coach Timothy Odeke should be pleased with how far they have come. “4-0? I don’t see that happening for either team,” Odeke vowed before the series started.
He has definitely been vindicated even as UCU took a 2-0 lead in this series. In fact, KCCA won three in a row for a 3-2 margin and could have clinched their first title since 2009 on Sunday. UCU’s 69-48 rout got us here. “We knew we had to win,” Maureen Amoding, the 2009 MVP, said. She made 11 points, five rebounds and six assists as UCU survived the elimination game.
Coach Boniface Okello, in his first season at UCU, has seen his side cope without Purity Odhiambo. The forward, also reigning MVP, lost her mother last Thursday, on the eve of Game Five. “She may or may not make it for Game Seven,” Okello said. “The setback of Purity affected the girls. She is a pillar of this team. Players are so close to her.”
The report card reads; one loss, 53-54, albeit in overtime, and a victory in her absence. That has required Peace Proscovia and Lorraine Akinyi to combine for 44 points and 39 rebounds to keep afloat
Centre Martha Soigi has been outstanding in KCCA’s revenge mission. She has had 35 points and 20 rebounds in the past two games to remain the most dominant player of the finals.
“It’s mainly two players hurting us – Flavia (Oketcho) and Martha – so our focus is on them but even the others who score two points will not be spared,” Okello warned.
ikigongo@ug.nationmedia.com
# posted by afrbk : 16:40
