The Uganda Netball National Team, the She Cranes, fell short to the reigning champions New Zealand in their second game of the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa.
New Zealand proved to be the better team right from the start but Uganda was close as the first quarter ended 13-11 in favor of New Zealand.
In the second quarter, New Zealand maintained their lead as the first half ended 25-21 with Grace Nweke scoring 15 goals.
New Zealand continued to stretch their lead as they added 13 points to make it 38-32 before the last quarter.
The five time champions New Zealand came stronger and owned the last quarter as they took the lead from just 6 goal difference to 10 goals to end the game with 54-44 scores, and earn the second win of the campaign.
Uganda’s Mary Nuba scored 30 goals out of the team’s 44 but she missed 8 goal attempts out of the team’s 13 total missed attempts. Shadiah Nassanga added 10 goals.
This was the first defeat of the campaign for She Cranes and their second in a row against New Zealand, with the first one coming last year in the Commonwealth Games when they lost 53-40 in Birmingham.
On Friday, Uganda thrashed Singapore 79-37 while New Zealand edged poor Trinidad and Tobago 76-27 in the opener.
The She Cranes will have to beat Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday 5pm to confirm their place in the next round.
Courtesy Photos
