CAIRO (Egypt) - Recently, when the Armee Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) basketball team reached out to Kierstan Bell, the 25-year-old knew that this was her chance to make her mark on African basketball.
Bell played for the Rwandan champions in the 2024 Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA), but they could only achieve third place in the Dakar tournament.
With the 2025 WBLA now underway in Cairo, Egypt, Bell and APR are chasing their first continental success.
However, things did not start well for the star-studded team, as APR fell short on the opening day, losing 78–71 to ASC Ville de Dakar - a team they had beaten in last year's bronze-medal game.
Bell contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals off the bench, but she certainly has a lot more to offer. After all, she is chasing glory outside of the US.
In her third season in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces, she won three titles in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
Drafted by Las Vegas in the first round (No. 11 overall) of the 2022 WNBA Draft, Bell's basketball future lies ahead of her, and she is chasing further success in Africa.
During the 2024 WBLA season, she averaged 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
APR are in Group C alongside CNSS (DR Congo), ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal) and Bravehearts of Malawi. The 2025 WBLA began on Friday 5 December and will finish on 14 December.
FIBA