LUANDA (AfroBasket Women 2015) - Leia Dongue has become a basketball icon in her native Mozambique, but, she insists, the accolade will remain meaningless until she accomplishes her childhood dream of playing in the Olympics.

Back in 2012, Dongue was close to live that dream, but things did not go according to plan.

She attempted to propel Mozambique to the London Olympics, however, two defeats against Croatia and Korea in the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQTW) held in Ankara, Turkey, ended Mozambique’s journey to the biggest sport event of the century in the British capital.

The experience in Ankara not only made Dongue mentally stronger, but it also transformed her game for good.

The 24-year-old took note and was never the same after facing the likes of Ana Lelas, Marija Vrsaljko and Jung-Ja Sin.

Last summer, at the 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship, Dongue showed why she represents the best Mozambique has to offer in international basketball scene, averaging 15 points and 11.7 rebounds, although they lost all their games in the Preliminary-Round.

Meanwhile, later this year, Dongue will try to book their ticket to next year's Olympics when Mozambique enter the 12-team AfroBasket Women 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon, from 24 September to 3 October.

Only the winner of the tournament secures direct qualification for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, while the teams that finish second and third will be invited to compete in the OQTW.

Obviously, the Primeiro D'Agosto forward is making sure to move on from a disappointing second-place accomplished two years ago in Maputo.

"We are going to Cameroon to play one game at a time in order to dignify our country's flag," she said to FIBA.com.

It’s a dream to play in the Olympics, and it could be one of the highest moments of my [basketball] career. - Dongue

"I just want to keep working hard in order to make that dream [playing in the Olympics] come true," she added.

Mozambique have been drawn in Group A along hosts Cameroon, South Africa, Gabon, Mali and Uganda.

It is a challenging pool, Dongue argues.

"This is a balanced Group, and I am sure it won’t be an easy one. But our goal is to win the whole thing.

"We are going to compete in Cameroon with the humble mindset that we used in World Championship.

"Thanks to God we had an excellent performance in Turkey, and we feel that we were able to dignify the flag of our country as well as the African continent's," Dongue pointed out.

Dongue, who is in her second season with Angolan side Primeiro D’Agosto, has helped her team win the Angolan national championship last month.

While her teammate Fineza Eusebio was named the competition MVP, American Lindsay Taylor made her 2.03m size felt.

"Lindsay has played a key role helping us winning the championship. She is experienced and very athletic," Dongue offered.

The Mozambique ace is expected to join her national team in the coming weeks to prepare for Cameroon 2015.

FIBA