Uganda Gazelles coach happy despite defeat to Mali

Uganda Gazelles head coach Alberto Antuna was ejected in his first FIBA Women's Afrobasket 2023 game as Uganda fell 80-66 to Mali Friday evening.

The Spaniard received his second technical midway through the fourth quarter and was sent for an early shower.

But despite the ejection and the loss, Antuna was pleased with the kind of performance his troops put up against one of the top-ranked teams in Africa.

"I'm extremely happy with the girls because we competed very well against, in my opinion, the best team in the tournament," Antuna told Pulse Sports after the game.

The Uganda Gazelles were always going to find the going tough against West African side Mali in their opening game, and an 80-66 loss came as no surprise.

"The small details like being nervous, giving away offensive rebounds were killing us, and they maintained their lead," Antuna added.

"Obviously, the physicality, we were not able to fight till the end, and also Otto's injury in the last six minutes was a handicap."

Antuna was, however, left dejected and felt the referees could have communicated better with him throughout the game.

"I don't like to talk about refs, but I think they didn't really respect us, or they didn't expect that we will be competing like this.

"Otto and Asinde cannot finish the game with three, foul fouls called when they are shooting 20 times, and they are aggressive to the basket, but we need to adapt to the referees.

"Overall, I'm super happy with the girls. We proved we are here for a reason, and we are going to keep competing."

After starting the game on the front foot and leading 19-16 at the end of the first quarter, the Gazelles ended the game on the back foot and lost by 14 points.

Jannon Otto's team-high 19 points and Claire Lamunu's commendable 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench were not enough to get Uganda over the line.

Mali's full-court press often troubled the Gazelles, and the West Africans finished off the job to start the tournament with a victory.

Uganda will now face Senegal in their last Group C game on Sunday.