UCU Lady Canons lift ninth National Basketball League title

The basketball dynasty in Mukono is official once more.

The Uganda Christian University (UCU) Lady Canons claimed a record-extending ninth National Basketball League (NBL) title on Sunday night, putting on a defensive masterclass at the Lugogo Indoor Arena to dispatch the JT Lady Jaguars 63-49 in Game Five of the finals.

The victory sealed a 4-1 series triumph and added another glittering chapter to UCU’s unmatched dominance of women’s basketball in Uganda.

For head coach Nicholas Natuhereza, the architect of the university’s sustained era of excellence, it is another masterpiece in a storied coaching career.

It was fittingly Martinah Anyango who carried the torch across the finish line. The star forward capped off a phenomenal postseason by being crowned the 2026 NBL Women’s Most Valuable Player, a well-deserved recognition she sealed with a game-high 15 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists in the series-clinching win.

The resilient Lady Jaguars, determined to banish the ghosts of last season’s finals heartbreak, came out swinging.

Paced by Bridget Aber, Brenda Kayaga, Maimuna Nabbosa, and Sandra Wangeshi, JT stunned the champions early, carving out a 15-12 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

The defensive battle tightened in a gritty second period. While JT maintained a razor-thin edge, UCU clawed back the momentum just enough to nose ahead 24-23 at the halftime break, orchestrated by Zoe Atek, Sylvia Nantongo, Lovi Malaika Najjuko, and Sarah Namale.

The tide definitively turned in the third quarter. UCU began stretching the floor, finding rhythm from deep as Atek and Anyango each drained two three-pointers, with Shillah Lamunu chipping in another to push the lead to 46-42.

Then came the defensive clampdown.

In a fourth quarter that will haunt the Lady Jaguars, the JT offense completely stalled, managing a paltry seven points—all coming from Kayaga and Nabbosa.

The Lady Canons, true to the DNA that carried them through a grueling campaign, slammed the door shut. Mariam Namukwaya, Lamunu, Anyango, Namale, and Atek combined for 17 final-period points, pulling away to comfortable safety.

Lamunu and Atek finished with 12 points apiece for the champions, with Atek adding a game-high six assists to her stat line. Kayaga and Nabbosa led the scoring for JT with 14 points each, but the Jaguars ultimately had no answer for UCU’s overwhelming muscle on the boards.

The Lady Canons dominated the rebounding battle 59-47 and swatted away eight blocks to JT’s lone rejection.

The triumph brings the curtain down on a flawless postseason run for UCU, who swept the KIU Rangers in the quarterfinals before edging the KCCA Leopards 3-1 in the semis.

For Sudi Ulanga’s JT Lady Jaguars, the defeat signals a painful repeat of history, leaving them as runners-up for the second consecutive season after pushing the series to five games.

Meanwhile, KCCA Leopards’ Tracy Namugosa—ironically a product of the UCU talent pipeline—was named the regular-season MVP after finishing as the league’s leading scorer, earning a spot in the All-Star Five after guiding KCCA to a third-place finish.

With the championship safely tucked back into the trophy cabinet alongside titles from 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2022, the Lady Canons once again stand alone at the summit of Ugandan basketball.

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