KAMPALA (Uganda) - Ever since Egypt appeared at the 2013 FIBA Women's AfroBasket - after a decade-long absence  - they haven't missed an edition of the tournament, and that's the goal at the upcoming qualifiers in Kampala, according to Egypt guard Nadine Mohamed.

But they need to pass a test in the Ugandan capital where they will go up against the host nation, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan in the FIBA Africa Zone 5 qualifier. 

The showdown will run from February 14-19, where teams will do battle for the only spot on offer for the Final Round.

"Egypt team is ready to fight. We prepared so very well for this tournament," Mohamed told FIBA.basketball.

A look back in the history of the competition shows that Egypt aren't just legitimate Zone 5 contenders for the sole ticket on offer for the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket, but the progress the team has made recent tells the story of a continental powerhouse in the making. 

Nadine Mohamed

Since 2013, Egypt gained respect and admiration from every team they faced at Women's AfroBasket in 2015 (Cameroon), 2017 (Mali), 2019 (Senegal) and Cameroon (2021).

Although Egypt finished second in the Zone 5 qualifiers two years ago - behind Kenya - Mohamed is first to admit that this week's qualifier will be anything but easy.

"Our opponents are good. It's going to be tough games and whoever fights till the end will win it all," said Mohamed who led Egypt in scoring with averages of 16.8 points at 2021 Women's AfroBasket.

When coach Ehab Elalfy announced Egypt's squad for the Kampala showpiece, the majority of his squad were familiar faces.

"The majority if the squad is super young with so much ambition," the 25-year-old Mohamed explained.

When asked about a good result for Egypt in Kampala, the former student athlete at UNC Greensboro's confidently observed: "There's no good result but winning the championship. It's a bit of a challenge since this year they are going to take one team team only besides Rwanda (hosts)."

Like Mohamed a number of Egyptian players (Reem  Moussa , Hagar Amer, Raneem Elgedawy, and Hala Elshaarawy) have recently experienced US collegiate basketball, a move that has boosted the team's potential.

Mohamed went on saying: "Women's basketball in Egypt has grown a lot over the past years. We are a very young team, experienced - some of us played NCAA college basketball -. It's time to represent the country and give back to the community."

Asked to describe this Egypt squad, the shooting guard who was the 2020 Southern Conference (SoCon) Player of the Year after helping the Spartans win the regular-season championship, called it: "Hustling Squad.. We are going to defend our country till the last second and our eyes are on the AfroBasket."

FIBA