BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S Al Hala went down fighting last night 71-78 against Al Fatat SC from Kuwait in the 26th Arab Women’s Clubs Championship, currently being played in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom’s representatives had a sensational third quarter where they poured in 29 points and held their opponents to just 12 to take a commanding 65-52 lead into the final frame. But the Kuwaitis gradually chipped away at the deficit in the concluding 10-minute period, where Hala scored only six points.
A Raneem Elgedawy free-throw with three minutes to play gave them the lead for good, and then they did enough over their closing possessions to pull away for the victory as Hala could not overcome their struggles.
The result was the fourth successive loss for the Bahrainis, who are out of contention for the final with two games left to play in the preliminary round. Fatat claimed their second win in four outings.
Hala must now triumph in their last two assignments to have any chance of making it through to the bronze medal game. They are scheduled to take on Fuheis SC from Jordan today at 5pm, and then will have back-to-back off-days tomorrow and Wednesday. Hala wrap up their preliminary round schedule on Thursday against Al Qurain, also from Kuwait, at 3pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Following this ongoing single round-robin, the top two clubs on the standings will battle for the gold medals, while the third and fourth-ranked sides will lock horns for bronze, both on Friday.
Hala’s defeat last night followed their tight losses to Association du Groupement Sportif Cosider from Algeria, Sharjah from the UAE, and to Saudi hosts Al Ula.
Hala led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter but then fell behind 36-40 at the half. They then stepped it up after the interval and took a 47-46 lead on an Aya Kamali basket with six minutes left in the third. American professional Alexa Nicole Hart then buried a three-pointer to put Hala ahead 50-48, and that was the beginning of an 18-4 rally to end the quarter, which gave them their 13-point cushion heading into the fourth.
But it was all downhill from there for the Bahrainis, who scored just six points the entire period. After a Laila Behbehani basket with 50.5s remaining put Fatat up 73-68, Hala’s Hessa Aljaber buried three pressure-packed free-throws with 40s to go to get them back to within two. It was as close as they would get and free-throws from Elgedawy and Senegalese import Ndioma Kane pegged the final score.
Hala’s Yacine Diop, also from Senegal, finished with a game-high 33 points for Hala in the losing effort, while Hart added 11 and Kamali had 10.
Elgedawy paced Fatat with 27 points while Behbehani chipped in with 20.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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