Perfect start for Inter Clube in win over Equity Bank
The two sides met on the opening day of the Africa Women Basketball League (AWBL), ongoing in Alexandria, Egypt with the Elisa Pires-coached Angolans looking dangerous from the onset.
ALEXANDRIA (Egypt) - An 18-point run for Angola's Inter Clube in the opening 5 minutes of the second quarter against Kenya's Equity Bank Hawks proved detrimental for the latter as they went on to lose the match 80-55.
The two sides met on the opening day of the Africa Women Basketball League (AWBL), ongoing in Alexandria, Egypt with the Elisa Pires-coached Angolans looking dangerous from the onset.
Inter Clube, who boast a star-studded squad that includes former MVPs of the AWBL predecessor Champions Cup for Women Italee Lucas and Ingvild Mucauro, raced to an early 10-3 lead and 17-5 in the opening part of the quarter but the Kenyan bankers fought back to trail 27-19 at the end of the first quarter.
Nadir Manuel contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Angolan champions
Going 5 minutes without a basket in the second quarter did Benson Oluoch's charges no good as they never recovered from the slump. The side scored 11 in the second part of the quarter to cut the deficit to 19, heading to the locker rooms trailing 49-30.
Oluoch admitted after the loss: "Statistics don't lie, we gave the opponent 33 points off our 39 turnovers and went on to lose by 25 and that shows we have to take care of the ball better and be patient on offense,"
"In the second quarter, Inter Clube came out pressing and our lack of experience especially from our young players showed as they couldn't deal with the situation. This, however, is a learning process and I believe we will come out better for the second match."
Malu Irebu Grace, the only Equity Bank Hawks player to score in double in digits, finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds
With a comfortable lead going into the second half, coach Pires used her star players sparingly but the side still managed to go 17-16 and 14-9 ahead for the win.
Despite the win, coach Pires still feels her charges made a lot of mistakes. "The objective was to win but this is not how we want to play. We made a lot of mistakes that we need to correct," she said.
"Winning the opening match was, however, very important for us as it gives us morale going forward. As we head to the next match, we have to be better defensively and also work on our perimeter shooting," coach Pires added.
The former Champions Cup multiple title holders dominated all fronts, scoring 42 against 19 off the bench, 33 against 7 on fast breaks, 52 for 24 on the paint and 33 for 7 on turnovers.
FIBA