Kenya Lionesses Basketball Team won bronze at the Afrobasket Women Qualifiers Zone 5 Championship held at the MTN Arena-Lugogo in Kampala, Uganda.

In their four games played, the Kenyan team only lost their last Group A duel against Egypt with a 82-57 score line. Kenya, who last won the title in 2021, started off the tournament with a bang after narrowly beating hosts Uganda 61-53 in the opening match, before getting the better of South Sudan 80-51.

The Kenyan team which was improving after every match, then went ahead to defeat Rwanda 69-58 before their final collapse against eventual winners Egypt. As a result of their good feat, Kenya’s centre Madina Okot was named in the All-Tournament Team. The Zetech Sparks player had an incredible 72 rebounds in five games. Okot was also the best rebounder during last December’s FIBA Africa Women’s Club Championships in Mozambique.

Also starring for Team Kenya in the tournament was skipper Melissa Otieno and Victoria Reynolds who also had cameo performances. Head coach George Mayienga managed his squad well with impactful substitutions at crucial moments. The likes of Selina Okumu and Mercy Wanyama were as efficient as they were powerful on the ball with aggression at times showing in their play.

The team also looked organized in defence and transition to offence was also well worked.

However, Saturday looked like a tall order for the Lionesses against the big-scoring Pharaohs. With the loss, Kenyans had hoped that Rwanda could do them a favor by comfortably beating Uganda but instead, the the Cranes had other ideas as they beat their neighbors 78-70 to set out a final date with Egypt.

FIBA Rules dictate that the first criteria is on higher game points difference of the games between the three teams. Since Kenya also lost against Egypt by more than 15 points, it automatically meant they missed out on defending their title which they won two years ago.

In the semis game against Egypt, only Mercy Wanyama (13 points), Rose Ouma (11 points) and Madina Okot (10 points) had a strong showing with Chistine Akinyi having 12 rebounds in the difficult game.