Strathmore Swords bounce back to slice Eldonets in league battle

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Strathmore University Swords bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to edge out Eldonets 67-64 in a Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Women’s Premier League match played at United States International University of Africa (USIU-A) grounds on Sunday.

A solid start won the match for the students who had lost to Stanbic Aces. Swords did the heavy work in the first half forcing Eldonets to play catch up throughout the match. Keen not to suffer a second loss in one weekend, Swords played with zeal from the start to win the first quarter 18-8 and take a 10-point lead.

They remained dominant in the second even as Eldonets who had defeated the University of Nairobi Dynamites on Saturday fought tooth and nail to reduce the point gap. However, Strathmore thwarted their effort with a 20-14 win in the second quarter for a 38-22 advantage at the breather.

The second half belonged to Eldonets who controlled the proceedings to take the third quarter 19-12 and narrow the gap to nine points.

The game was tense in the final quarter as Eldonets pushed to score more points and overturn Strathmore’s imminent victory. Even so, the students remained calm scoring 17 points against the opponents 23 hence ensuring that they protected their lead to the buzzer.

Former champions USIU-A Flames beat Lady Titans 42-34 to register their fourth win of the season. The defeat condemned the debutants to the bottom of the table. They must now win their remaining three first leg matches to revive their hopes of maintaining their spot in the top tier.

Flames on the other hand moved from 11th place to ninth place to enhance their chances of finishing their campaign in the play-offs bracket if they capitalise on their remaining five matches.

Ninel Naserian led Flames who are seeking to recapture the title they last won in 2015 with 15 points in a low scoring duel that saw only three players hit the double digits mark.

Marylisa Omondi added 12 for USIU-A while Lady Titans’ Faith Oduor was the match’s top scorer with 19 points. Despite her effort, her compatriots seemed to have not turned up for the task with Sarah Japher scoring five points.

The Flames took advantage of playing on familiar grounds to control the game from the onset and take the first quarter 12-8. The second period was dull with both sides seemingly unable to score consistently.

The homegirls scored eight points one more than their guests for a narrow 20-15 half-time lead. On resumption, USIU-A who had gone into the encounter with three wins and two defeats were more tactical in the third quarter. They won 16-10 for a 36-25 advantage going into the fourth period.

The Lady Titans fought on to take the quarter 9-6 but that was not good enough to help them avoid dropping more points. 

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