Basketball team gets rude awakening in Mozambique

Thato Kala | Friday October 11, 2013 16:17

The result mean Botswana is out of contention for a place at the FIBA Under-17 World Championships for Women.

Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) public relations officer, James Kalebwe said the whole idea of sending the team to Maputo was to gauge its progress.

'This is Botswana's first time participating at a continental (basketball) tournament, we were invited on a wild card, we did not go there expecting to win, we went there to assess our progress and to gain experience at the Under-16 level,' Kalebwe told Mmegi Sport.

Prior to the Maputo tourney, the team's preparations suffered a heavy knock when key players had to pull out because of the upcoming school examinations. The event is used as a qualifier for the FIBA Under-17 World Championships for Women.

Meanwhile, Police V women's side hope to stretch its lead at the summit of the log when they take on fifth placed BU Saints tonight at SSKB.

The defending champions have gone 13 games unbeaten this season and look likely to extend the run this weekend when they face struggling BU Saints.

After will, Police will face a stern test tomorrow at SSKB when they play former champions BDF V, who are presently in second place on the log. BDF have lost twice this season, and are four points adrift of Police, who have collected 26 points. In the men's league, Spartans make the long trip to Francistown to play Splinters and Flames tomorrow. Spartans are in second place after losing one game while Troopers lead the pack after winning all their 13 games so far.