PRETORIA (South Africa) - Dominant Mali picked their seventh African title after beating Nigeria 76-56 in Pretoria to be crowned the 2024 FIBA U18 Women's AfroBasket champions. By reaching the final, Mali, who closed their campaign with a 6-0 mark secured one of the two tickets available for African countries for the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2025 to be held in Czechia. Nigeria secured the other qualifying ticket to the World Cup. While Ange Majolie-led Cameroon, on debut, beat Uganda 70-63 to finish third.
Seventeen-year-old Oummou Koumare played a crucial role in helping Mali win the title, and the forward was named the competition's Most Valuable Player (MVP). She also bagged the awards for the leading scorer and best three-point shooter having averaged 22.5 points 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. What's more, she hit double digits in each of the six matches, saving the best for last as she dropped her highest score in a single game, 31, against Nigeria in the Final, to lead the rankings on points per game with 22.5. Koumare was joined in the All-Star line-up by teammate Mama Sidiki Doumbia, Nigeria's Idubamo Beggi, Damaris Emedie of Cameroon and Resty Nanangwe of Uganda.
South Africa’s Amarachi Cynthia was the tournament’s best rebounder, fifteen-year-old Maimouna Traore guided champions Mali to the title, giving 34 assists for an average of 5.7 assists per game. The 2024 edition was the first time in the history of African basketball, that two female coaches had guided their respective countries to the Semi-Finals of a major national team tournament. Majolie led her side to third on their first time of asking while Juliana Ojoshogu Negedu of Nigeria brought former silver medalists back to the U18 AfroBasket stage after an absence spanning 14 years and they managed to repeat the feat from their last participation, losing in the gold match.
Final Standings: 1. Mali 2. Nigeria 3. Cameroon 4. Uganda 5. Egypt 6. Angola 7. Rwanda 8. Tunisia 9. Morocco 10. South Africa 11. Zambia 12. Zimbabwe
FIBA