Africa-Press – Kenya. Reigning women champions Equity Bank pipped Zetech University Sparks 50-45 in a playoff semifinal Game One at Nyayo National Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It was Sparks who roared to an early 5-0 lead and kept the bankers at bay by taking a 16-8 first quarter cushion.
Equity pressured but it didn’t bear fruits as the varsity girls punched away to build a 30-25 advantage at the breather.
The third quarter belonged to Equity, who clawed back to take the lead for the first time at 32-31. Betty Kananu was impressive as she shot her team to a 45-40 advantage.
“Our players were under a lot of pressure. Everybody wants to be in the finals. I am happy we cut the lead from 10 points in the third quarter and that’s what made us win the game,” said bankers David Maina.
Melissa Akinyi led Equity with 15 points while Kananu shot 12. Chantal Kiyobe buried 15, all threes while Debbie Obunga had 11 for Sparks.
Maina’s counterpart, Maurice Obilo, stated: “90 per cent of my players have never played at this level before, so I am happy. They gave it a very good shot. The difference is we didn’t convert our free throws.”
In another women’s semis clash, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) easily took Game One when they thumped Storms 79-33.
The losers struggled in the first quarter as they trailed 4-11 and were still shaky as KPA cruised away 21-7 in the second stanza.
Storms picked themselves up in the third quarter closing in 11-16 before the porters overwhelmed them easily pulling away 27-11 in the last.
Vilma Achieng led KPA with 17 points and Barbra Diana 10. Ashley Minayo registered 10 for the losers.
“We eased the pressure a little bit by winning Game 1. My players did well in their execution of the game plan.
Now we have to stay focused for Game 2 and kill off the series, ” said KPA coach Anthony Ojukwu.
Storms coach Abel Nson, said: “Our game plan was perfect but we just did not execute well. We will watch the film and see where we went wrong heading into our next game.”
In a lower division match-up, Africa Nazarene University (ANU) dismissed KDF Morans 72-54.
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