Strathmore University Swords lost their first match this season as they fell to defending champions Equity Bank Hawks 54-46 in a tightly contested Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women league match played at Nyayo on Sunday.
Having gone for a nine match unbeaten streak, this was the first defeat for the Ronnie Owino-coached Swords as they bore the brunt of a scathed Hawks who were coming off a 52-50 loss to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
Hawks took an early lead but Swords rallied from behind to take the first quarter 13-12. The bankers held on for a second quarter 14-10 win to head to the breather with a three-point advantage. The varsity side pushed Hawks in the third quarter but the latter still won the period 15-14 for a beatable four-point gap. However, Swords could not master the skill to go for the kill as they scored nine points against Hawks’ 13 for the eight point loss.
Easy baskets
“We allowed Equity to score easy baskets on the paint, gave them space to sink some three points and were generally poor in our defence. However, we did well considering we were up against the defending champions who have very experienced players,” said Owino.
The side missed the services of Susan Manya and Joy Mupawa who are out on injury as well as Vivian Saina who has been out for the last six months recovering from a knee surgery. “I only had nine players to rotate and they are not as experienced as the Equity players.
