Indasi, Mandela bask in glory as basketball season ends

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) women basketball team shooting guard Hilda Indasi who also doubles up as the national team captain is reaping the fruits of hard work.

Indasi emerged as the top scorer in the just concluded five-game series final playoffs to claim the top scorer award even as her team missed the title narrowly.

Had KPA won the gong it would have been double heroics for her but it was a case of so close yet so far even as she claimed the individual accolade.

According to 34-year-old, the success was hinged on team work and all-out-action on the court which culminated in her being crowned as the top scorer after a grueling campaign.

“I am humbled,” she said. “As you know it was not easy especially going to each game with opponents breathing on your neck knowing you’re the top scorer.  We had better players but standing out to be the best is a privilege.”

Born on 18th May 1985 in Kaimosi , Vihiga County, the national team captain didn’t know that one day she would be a basketball star let alone being a powerhouse in the country.

Indasi joined KPA this term after helping Equity win the league in 2018. She has so far won the Premier League five times with three different clubs, making her one of the most decorated talents in the Kenyan basketball scene.

She twice won the gong with Equity, KPA once and USIU twice. Her success has not just seen her star locally but win several other individual and team accolades – with club and country —locally and abroad drawing the attention from an unnamed Nigerian club but she declined their overtures for educational reasons.

Unknown to many, she’s a book-worm too having graduated from the prestigious United States International University (USIA) where she read Hotel Management.

Elsewhere, after her starring role helped Equity Bank bag the 2019 league title, power shooting guard Annerose Mandela was awarded the Most Valuable Player.

Mandela was the star-act in the playoffs and her heroics did not go unnoticed as she bagged the award for the third time after doing so in 2016 and 2017 while turning out for KPA.

Mandela who is also one of the most decorated players featured for KPA last term before joining Equity.

Born on 4th July 1990, Mandela dreams of playing for the five-time Africa Women Championship winners Interclube of Angola in the near future.

She’s so far won six Premier League titles with three different clubs.

She won the gong three consecutive times with Eagle Wings – 2010, 2011 and 2012, – and with KPA in 2016 and 2017 before replicating the feat this year, with Equity.

She has also won the Africa Zone Five Championship more than three times among many other honours.