Proteas wins battle against Uganda
The encounter between both the SPAR Proteas and Uganda She Crane was always going to be a tough battle on the court during the Windhoek tournament on November 15.
The Proteas won 57– 37.
South Africa may have had a psychological advantage against Uganda considering that the last time these two sides met South Africa won the match.
Uganda was the first team to get off the mark and really took the game to the SPAR Proteas who were forced to chase the game and fight back to take the lead on the eighth minute.
A few possession turnovers and errors made, it hard for South Africa. At the end of the first quarter, the SPAR Proteas enjoyed a three-point lead. The score was 13-10 in favour of South Africa.
Uganda did not let this deter them as they started the second quarter the same way they did the first one. The first centre pass of this quarter belonged to them and they made sure that they converted it and reduced their score deficit to two points.
The resilience and fighting spirit of the SPAR Proteas team and their never-die attitude proved to be very pivotal as they had to dig deep to come out of their shells, challenged Uganda and made sure that they took the lead ending the quarter 28–22.
South Africa did not rest and came into the third quarter. They played with the same intensity that they had in the second quarter. During this series, the SPAR Proteas have sealed their victories in the third quarter of every single match. At some point in this match, they enjoyed a 10-point lead and managed to pull away ending the quarter 42–30.
SPAR Proteas head coach Dorette Badenhorst seemed to stick to the same players for three quarters and just moved them around into different positions throughout the match. This seems to have worked very well in her favour.
“We knew that it was going to be a physical match against Uganda and we needed to be mentally ready for that one. A lot is happening outside of the four lines; however, ours is to make sure that we concentrate on the game.
“Playing against other African countries is always tough and as I have been saying since day one, we will underestimate no one, everyone gets the same respect from us,” said Badenhorst.
