Egypt defeated hosts Uganda on Sunday to qualify for the FIBA AfroBasketWomen’s Championship 2023.
The Egyptian team stopped hosts Uganda 74-65 in the final of Zone 5 qualifiers played on Sunday night at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala. Former champions Kenya defeated South Sudan 64-30 for the third play-off place.
The hosts Uganda Gazelles who had beaten Egypt earlier 86-85 in the preliminary round failed to match the more organized opponents who were dominant in all the four quarters.
Raneem Elgedawy was in good form for Egypt scoring 19 points and picking 12 rebounds, while Radwa Salem added 16 points, and Soraya Deghady 11 points.
Brenda Ekone and Jannon Otto were the highest scorers for the Uganda Gazelles with 25 and 14 points respectively.
And Gazelles’ wait to play at Afrobasket again continues since 2015 when they returned to the Continental stage for the first time since her debut in 1997 in Kenya.
Egypt’s experienced player Soraya Deghady said it was great team work that helped them win. “We were determined not to lose again to Uganda in the same competition,” added Deghady.
Egypt now join Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, and hosts Rwanda for the July festival to be held in Kigali.
The Egypt team qualified for the AfroBasket Women’s event for the 14th time. They lifted the AfroBasket title in 1966 and 1968 and clinched Silver twice in 1970 and 1977.
