CAIRO (Egypt) - Kayana Traylor's 20 points proved crucial for Rwanda Energy Group (REG) as the 2023 silver medalists found themselves on the verge of losing to debutants Sporting Clube de Luanda. Traylor, who had a brief WNBA career with the Minnesota Lynx, made her Women's Basketball Africa League (WBLA) debut in style.
We are approaching each game here as a final - Kayana Traylor
She took matters in her hands to pull the Rwandese champions from a 10-point deficit at halftime for a 67-64 clutch victory. REG struggled in the opening two quarters, going 28-23 and 16-11 behind, as the American scored nine. Sensing danger, the Pape Malick coached side had Promise Amukamara and Kristina King going hard in the opening two minutes for a 6-0 run that brought them within four points (44-40). She shot twice from range, her second with 4:18 to play in the third making it a one-point game (52-51). A few costly turnovers gifted the Angolan side a chance to pull away for 59-53 at the end of the third but that did little to silence Traylor who opened the fourth from deep and assisted Lamla Umunezero for 59-58. Hope Butera's three handed REG the lead at 61-59.
Under coach Angela Cardoso, a former Inter Clube player with two titles (2006,2014) in this competition to her name, the Angola side had the opportunity to cause an upset but three costly turnovers in the last 30 seconds saw Malick's charges hold on for victory. Traylor finished with a team-high 20, shooting 100 percent from the charity stripe while adding three treys and two in the paint. Five assists, three rebounds and two steals competed get performance for 18 in efficiency rating. Kristina King was the only other REG player to score in double digits, with 12. Reflecting on the narrow win, Traylor said: "We are approaching each game here as a final as we know every team is going to be tough. We will have to match everyone's physicality in the coming games and remain focused on defense as we are at our best when we get stops and get into transition. If we can control the basics then we will be fine.
"Today our start was really not the best and knowing we could do much better was all the motivation I needed to push for that comeback. It is a different level from the qualifiers but we will make the necessary adjustments and come back better for the next assignment," Traylor concluded.
FIBA