Dillard receives first Senegal call-up ahead of the 2023 Women's AfroBasket
Sokhna Sylla, Yacine Diop, Oumoul Khiam Sarr and Madjiguene Sene will be joined by point guard Cierra Dillard, who has her first Senegal call-up since receiving her Senegalese citizenship.
DAKAR (Senegal) - Senegal announced on Wednesday a 19-player preliminary squad and the opening of their training camp for the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket.
According to the Senegalese Basketball Federation, the former African champions will start their preparations for the biennial African Championship on Monday, June 12 at Marius Ndiaye Stadium in Dakar.
Moustapha Gueye is returning as head coach, and the veteran coach made sure to bring back four players who helped Senegal to a fourth-place finish at the 2021 Women's AfroBasket in Cameroon.
Sokhna Sylla, Yacine Diop, Oumoul Khiam Sarr (main picture) and Madjiguene Sene will be joined by point guard Cierra Dillard.
| Senegal's 19-player preliminary squad for the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket Basketball | |||
| Fatou Diagne | Fatou Dieng | Cierra Dillard | Mathilde Diop |
| Yacine Diop | Mareme Drame | Aminata Fall | Ndioma Kane |
| Arama Niang | Aicha Ndour | Fatou Pouye | Khadidiatou Sarr |
| Oumoul Khairy Sarr | Madjiguene Sene | Sokhna Lycka Sy | Sokhna Sylla |
| Lena Timera | Oumou Kalsoum Toure | Aya Traore | |
This is Dillard's first Senegal call-up since receiving her Senegalese citizenship.
Last December, the 27-year-old played a huge role in helping Sporting Alexandria win the 2022 FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup in Maputo, Mozambique.
Cierra Dillard helped Sporting to a 66-50 win over Senegal's ASC Villa de Dakar, contributing finished with 9 points and 5 assists
Sporting Alexandria won their first-ever continental trophy on the back of a 5-1 record with the US-born Dillard leading the Egyptian club with team-highs of 19.2 points, 4 assists while recording a 20.3 Efficiency rating.
This year's Women's AfroBasket will take place at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda from July 28 to August 6.
So far, teams qualified for the 2023 Women's AfroBasket are as follows: Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, Mozambique, Rwanda, Egypt and DR Congo.
The remaining four teams will determined through regional qualifiers over the next few weeks.
FIBA