DAKAR (Senegal) - Africa Women’s Basketball League (AWBL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Cierra Dillard and the duo of Yacine Diop and Fatou Diagne have tipped the Senegalese women's national team, Lionesses, to qualify for the Olympics Games. Senegal was drawn in the WOQT to be hosted in Antwerp, Belgium. They will face the host, the last european champion, USA Basketball and four-time Women's AfroBasket champions Nigeria. This is one huge challenge! 

Senegal fell to Rena Wakama's Nigeria in the FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2023 Final held in Rwanda, victory for the latter handing them a fourth consecutive continental title while denying the then Moustapha Gaye-led side what would have been a record-extending 12th title.

As the two sides renew rivalry in Belgium, Senegal, under the tutelage of Spaniard Carlos Alberto Antuna who until October 2023 was in charge of Uganda Gazelles, will look to revenge their loss for a slot to France.

He is likely to rely on the trio, among other key players, whose chemistry was evident when they led Egypt's Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) to the AWBL title.

We caught up with the three players and here's what they had to say:

CIERRA DILLARD

Dillard featured for Lionesses in the 2023 Women's AfroBasket, propelling the team to silver. She will represent the country in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the first time. 

"This is one of the toughest groups as we face the African, European, and World Champions but if one wants to be the best one must defeat the best.

"We have to focus on playing together as a team. We got caught with a bit of dividing chemistry in the AfroBasket final but we have to know how to push each other for better this time," the 27-year-old offered. 

Asked what it means to represent Senegal and what the opportunity to feature in the Summer Games means, Dillard added; 

"It is an honor to play for Senegal and representing the country is a joy. Playing in the Olympics would mean the world. To even go for the [Qualifying Tournament] is a dream. It takes hard work to reach that level as it is unbelievably hard so to compete for the slot is a great achievement." 

YACINE DIOP

Dillard's sentiments were echoed by former FIBA U18 African Championship for Women MVP, Yacine Diop who was part of the squad when Senegal settled for silver in the 2019 Women's AfroBasket. 

"We have a new coach for the Qualifying Tournament and it is exciting to see what is next as far as the squad goes. Nonetheless, we have to prepare well to face these three teams. 

"The Qualifying Tournaments are a different ball game and the history we have with Nigeria is a motivation to go harder and claim that win. We have two more teams and we will look to pick wins against the two as anything is possible in such a competition," the ASC forward said adding that playing in the Olympics would be a dream come true.

FATOU DIAGNE

On her part, Senegal center Fatou Diagne believes the Lionesses squad have what it takes to face the three teams and qualify.

"We have a new coach and we expect him to give us what we need for the win. We lost some focus in losing the AfroBasket title to Nigeria but we have another opportunity to play our full potential. We want to win that game," she offered.

Diagne also added that, just like her teammates, being an Olympian would be a dream come true and representing Senegal and Africa on the at that stage would be a great achievement. 

Asked whether playing together at club level during the AWBL gives the trio an edge, Diagne graciously agreed adding that it helped them work on their chemistry ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. 

Senegal last played at the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

FIBA