Sri-Lanka has claimed the 2nd SABA Women's Championship by successfully defending their championship against Maldives. From the very first second, Sri Lanka controlled the court and finished the game with a lead of 13 points; 72-59.
Lubna Morseth opened the scoring for Sri Lanka a few shots after the team had the game's first possession but were unable to capitalize on it.
The key to Sri Lanka's success was their half court trap defense, which put pressure on their opponents and eliminated all of their scoring opportunities. The final score at the end of the first quarter was 23 points to 11.
Sri Lanka started to gain ground in the second period. By the eighth minute of the second quarter, Sri Lanka had established a comfortable lead of at least ten points. Both on offense and defense, they excelled. The Maldives' defense was easily breached by Epciba Washington and Taniya Perera, who then swung the nets in Sri Lanka's favor. Sri Lanka took the lead early thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Keyasha Siriwardana and captain Ekanayake.
Maldives did, however, pick up their tempo in the third quarter. They stiffened their defense and eliminated all scoring opportunities, making Sri Lanka struggle to score until the fourth minute. The difference of score came down to 16 with Maldives team gaining pace. Young player Inasha scored the most points for the Maldivian team.
Both sides continued to play well as the fourth quarter began, but Sri Lanka's early advantage gave them the victory.
The Nepal team went on to become the runner-ups of the tournament. Maldives can claim bronze if they win against Bhutan tonight. In 2016, Maldives had won bronze with a relatively young squad on board.
Sign In
