ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - Uganda Gazelles are the first team to qualify for this year's Women's AfroBasket quarterfinals after a spectacular show against record champions Senegal, in a 73-70 overtime victory.
One of the most anticipated matchups at this year's event, the clash, a revenge mission for Senegal who lost 85-83 to Uganda in in 2023 lived up to expectations with either side having moments of brilliance on the court.
The Senegalese, however, could not muster the point to exact revenge as Uganda finish top of Group C for a direct ticket to the Last Eight.
It was the first game of the 2025 Women's AfroBasket to go into overtime and for good reason as little separated this rivalry. It also marked the first loss for Senegal coach, Otis Hughley Jr, a two-time winner with Nigeria (2019, 2021) in the Women's AfroBasket.
Despite Senegal taking a 9-0 lead in the opening five minutes of the clash, the Zone 5 champions made adjustments on both ends of the court. Hope Akello sank a three-pointer for a 9-8 lead.
Senegal couldn't pull away, not for lack of trying, as Uganda refused to give up, their efforts paying off eventually as Claire Lamunu's buzzer-beating trey handed the Zone 5 champions the lead for the first time a 17-16.
A dagger by Lena Timera from behind the arc was all the record title holders had to show in the opening four minutes of the second quarter as Uganda turned the tables for a 16-3 run that had the West Africans trailing by 14, forcing coach Otis Hughley Jr into an much-needed timeout.
What's more, the Senegalese had played themselves into foul trouble with more than five minutes on the clock and that helped their case little, despite a better show in the remaining minutes to cut their deficit to nine (37-28) at half time.
TURNING POINT: A 21-8 third quarter in favour of the 11-time champions saw them take the lead 49-45. Cierra Dillard scored seven in the final five minutes of the quarter to keep her side in the game.
The Senegalese looked poised to take the win as they led by three with 25 seconds to play.
Paige Robinson, who had so far led Uganda's scoring alongside skipper Jane Asinde, rose above her defender from deep to level the score at 61. Dillard missed twice on the paint, taking the game to overtime.
A 12-9 overtime score sealed the win for the East Africans.
HERO: Paige Robinson, that's the name! Not only did she top score for Uganda on 19 points, one more than her partner in crime Jane Asinde, she kept Gazelles in the game with a trey, adding one more in the last five minutes of the game to seal the victory.
Zone 5 MVP, Asinde, deserves her flowers as well as she was the side's standout performer, flirting with a triple-double but coming short with three assists. She dropped a doble-double after adding 11 rebounds to her 18 points, 12 from the charity stripe where she shot 12-of-16.
STATS DON'T LIE: Senegal dominated most statistics and would probably have had an easier time and the victory had they handled Uganda's shooting from range better.
The Nicholas Natuhereza-led Gazelles shot 9-for-23 from behind the arc, six more than the opponent who made 22 attempts, a lowly 13.64% conversion rate for a side that boasts known shooters Dillard, and Ndioma Kane who went 1-for-7. BOTTOM LINE: For the second competition in a row, Uganda have helped their own against Senegal who finish second in the group. Otis Hughley Jr's charges have a date with Rwanda in the Round of 16 WHAT THEY SAID: "Of course, I see some parallels between our two losses to Uganda. We made some avoidable mistakes. We just have to keep working together and trying to improve. At this stage, all the teams are great. We made small mistakes, and those mistakes cost us the game. We just need to improve our rebounding. If we want to advance in this competition, we have to keep playing with heart and playing great defense.” - Senegal forward, Fatou Pouye. We came out and fought hard. It was a tough game. We didn’t have a great first quarter, but we didn’t give up. Now, we're putting this win behind us and looking ahead to the next one. They had much taller players, so we had to shoot from outside and box out because we couldn’t cover them. Doing those little things helped us win.” - Uganda forward Jane Asinde.
FIBA