Junior Gazelles progress to Fiba Under 16 Women quarterfinals

Despite the losses in the ongoing Fiba U-16 Women Basketball Tournament at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, the Junior Gazelles have qualified for quarterfinals and will take on Mozambique today.
The Junior Gazelles, the national U-16 ladies basketball team, lost 108-32 to Mali and 80-46 to Egypt.

The team’s loss at these games has raised concern considering that they are the 2019 Fiba U-16 Zone V Afro- Basket Women champions. They managed to beat teams like Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda.
Could it be that Uganda played weaker teams in the Fiba Zone V championship? To Gloria Kyomugisha, a former national basketball player, “It’s the first time the girls are appearing at the stage and guess they must be excited to represent the country but are failing because of the pressure they had never been exposed to.”

She advised that the girls play every team differently and also focus on improving their individual games. “The girls need to approach each game differently because every team plays a different structure of basketball and need to focus on individual displays for the next games.”

Mary Najjuma, Esther Kwaggala and Shillah Lamunu are the players that must carry Uganda across the line against Mozambique.
Uganda is ranked third in Group B. It has to finish among the top two to qualify for Fiba Under 17 Women’s Basketball World Cup scheduled for next year.

FIBA UNDER 16 women BASKETBALLL
UGANDA’S RESULTS
Uganda 32-108 Mali
Uganda 46-80 Egypt
SCHEDULED FIXTURES
Aug 1: Uganda vs. Mozambique
Aug 2: Semifinals
Aug 3: Finals

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