26 Jul
    3 Aug 2025

    10 facts about the Women's AfroBasket of the past decade

    Review

    While Angola, Senegal, and Mali dominated the previous decade, a new ruler is running the game in Africa.

    ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - Over the last decade, we have witnessed five editions of the Women’s AfroBasket, with two nations dominating the charts and a few others looking to close the gap and threaten their dominance.

    In this article, we examine some of the statistics, figures, and facts that defined the last five Women’s AfroBasket tournaments.

    Most Women's AfroBasket games played by a player

    Odélia Mafanela has played more Women's AfroBasket games than anyone else in the last decade.

    - Odelia Mafanela (Mozambique) - 33 games - Sarah Ogoke (Nigeria) - 31 games - Soraya Mohamed (Egypt) - 31 games

    Biggest winning margin

    There have been several blowout wins over the last decade, but none like the 2017 Group Phase clash in Bamako, Mali, between Nigeria and Guinea. Nigeria won by 73 points (106-33), registering the largest winning margin in the last five editions of the tournament.

    Another large margin was the 69 points (100-31) that Senegal inflicted on Guinea during the Group Phase of the 2021 tournament.

    On August 18, 2019, Nigeria demolished Cameroon 106-39 in Dakar, marking the third-largest winning margin in Women’s AfroBasket over the last decade.

    Lowest scoring game

    Ramses Lonlack was the only player to score in double digits with her 12 points.

    In the last 10 years, no teams have scored fewer points than Cameroon and Mali in a Women’s AfroBasket game.

    On September 25, 2015, Cameroon, the hosts, desperately needed to maintain their momentum, but taking on the highly competitive Mali team proved challenging. The Lions prevailed, 44–43, in the lowest-scoring game of the last five tournaments.

    Two years later, Nigeria, chasing their first continental title since 2005, needed to step up to beat Mali 48–47 in the semifinals. That game turned out to be the second-lowest scoring game in the tournament since 2015.

    Biggest upset

    Angola's title defense began to crumble with an unexpected loss to Egypt.

    In an unexpected turn of events, the young Egyptian team pulled off the biggest upset of the last decade when in 2015 they stunned the defending champions, Angola, with a final score of 53-52 during a group stage game in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

    When it all started for Nigeria

    Nigeria currently has a 24-game winning streak that began in an unexpected way back in 2015 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

    After losing to Angola 57-51 in the group phase, the two teams met again in the third-place game. Things looked promising for Angola, which led 55-40 at the end of the third quarter.

    However, Nigeria held Angola scoreless in the fourth quarter and outscored them 20-0 to secure third place. They have not lost a Women's AfroBasket game since.

    Most titles

    Nigeria had won back-to-back African titles in 2005, but winning four in a row was historic.

    Nigeria has become the most dominant team of the last decade, winning four of the last five tournaments.

    Senegal won the 2015 tournament in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, but Nigeria has dominated ever since, winning four titles in a row.

    Only Senegal has achieved this feat, winning four continental titles in a row in 1974, 1977, 1979, and 1981.

    Regular podium finishers

    While Nigeria has won four titles in a row since 2017, Senegal, Mali, and Cameroon have alternately filled the next podium steps.

    MVPs (2015-2023)

    After winning the 2009 MVP award, Aya Traoré did it again in 2015.

    2015 – Aya Traore (Senegal) 2017 – Astou Traore (Senegal) 2019 – Ezinne Kalu (Nigeria) 2021 – Adaora Elonu (Nigeria) 2023 – Amy Okonkwo (Nigeria)

    They never returned

    South Africa last appeared at Women's AfroBasket a decade ago.

    They came, they saw, they battled, and they never came back. Since appearing in the 2015 Women's AfroBasket tournament, Algeria, Gabon, and South Africa have returned to the competition.

    Highest climber in the FIBA Africa rankings

    Egypt

    Slowly but surely has been Egypt's motto over the last decade.

    Egypt has climbed from 14th to 5th in Africa since the beginning of 2015, which speaks to how much work the country has put in.

    At one point in 2022, Egypt was ranked fourth in Africa. This is the remarkable story of the team that has climbed the highest in women's African basketball over the last decade.

    FIBA

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