Egypt outclass Zimbabwe and qualify top of Group C

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Zimbabwe as they had struggled to find their footing all week long in Pretoria. They lost to Uganda and Nigeria by big margins, but they were determined to give it their all against Egypt who had comfortably defeated Nigeria and Uganda. With the top two third placed teams qualifying to the knockout stage, Zimbabwe knew they stood a chance mathematically.

 The game got off to a quick start for Egypt who scored 21 straight points before Zimbabwe could register their first point from a free-throw. Egypt continued with their high press and made it ever more difficult for Zimbabwe to get any kind of run.

Zimbabwe would struggle to inbound and when they did, they would struggle to get across the halfway line. Egypt’s Khadiga Abouelghait imposed herself before the Zimbabwean inbounder and made it all the more difficult for her to inbound. She also flaunted her playmaking abilities as she casually assisted her teammates. She went on to record 18 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Egypt closed the first quarter with the score at 32-4 in their favor.

The second and third quarter was not any different as the Egyptians continued to force Zimbabwe into turnovers repeatedly. That is when Jude Alaaeldin scored most of her 21 points. The score at the end of the third quarter was 84-19 and this score line really deflated Zimbabwe, all but one of their players.

Ruvimbo Sibanda would go on to record 13 points and 9 rebounds. She was determined to give her country her all. Zimbabwe who are debutants in this tournament wanted to minimize their mistakes against the two-time champions. However, they started the fourth quarter with 3 turnovers which led to 6 quick Egyptian points within the first 40 seconds of the quarter. Zimbabwe had no choice but to stop the bleeding somehow. This led to a good offensive quarter as they forced Egypt into many fouls, but they also gave up a lot as Egypt scored 37 points in the fourth quarter compared to Zimbabwe’s 8.

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Jude Alaaeldin had the following to say after the game,

We prepared for this game really well. I think we want to send a messages to other people that we're gonna rock the other games... We will be focused on defense and offense, we played with each other and this is a great job for us.

Egypt ended the game with 5 players in double figures for scoring including Khadiga Abouelghait (18 points), Jude Alaaeldin (21 points), Fairouz Abdelghaffar (17points), Nour Gamaleldin (13 points) and Haya Alhalawany (11 points). This felt like a statement game as they were sending a message to the rest of the teams. The Egyptians appeared in 4 of the last 5 finals but lost all 5 to Mali. They will be waiting to see who they will lock horns with in the quarter finals.

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[Photography / Imagery Courtesy of FIBA]