KAMPALA (Uganda) - Five wins in five games is enough to ensure that Egypt defend their Zone 5 title while qualifying for the upcoming FIBA Women's AfroBasket set to be held in Dakar, Senegal from August 9-18. 

Egypt, who were head and shoulders above every other team in the four-team qualifying tournament, got off the mark with a convincing 86-82 victory over a spirited Kenyan side that can be attributed to resilience and experience.

Against the hosts Uganda, Egypt were in charge of their fate and with a 64-55 victory, they made a good case for themselves as a tournament favourite to win the title and not just on paper. 

However, they had to come up against a young and enterprising Rwandan side that held their own but finally gave way as Egypt went on to win 64-56 in a thrilling last quarter where experience was visibly the factor that played a key role. 

With the round-robin format done and dusted, Rwanda sought revenge against Egypt in the Semi-Final but the latter was too strong and indeed dominated 78-73 in a highly contested tie to book a place in the final against the high flying Kenya.  

Egypt came to the party ready for the occasion and looking to seal the title and that is simply what they did and in style winning 90-72 over Kenya who easily looked the part earlier in the competition. 

 Egypt's Menatalla Awad was named as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and rightly so because her individual brilliance and ability to work alongside her teammates as well shone a light on their offence especially in crucial moments of the games. 

Rwanda's Tierra Henderson was the Highest Points Scorer netting an incredible 130 points with an average of 26 points per game while Felmas from Kenya was the Best Rebounder with 70 of them to her name.

Egypt now join the reigning Africans champions Nigeria, hosts Senegal, Mali, Mozambique and Cote d'Ivoire who automatically qualified for this year's edition alongside Zone 2 champions Cape Verde, Zone 4 winners Cameroon and Angola who emerged victorious in Zone 6. 

FIBA