The 2024 WBLA opened the tournament’s second edition on Friday, December 6, in Dakar, Senegal.
The tournament brings together the top-performing women’s clubs from the five different sporting FIBA zones in Africa, and the host country automatically receives a place in the tournament. There are seven zones in the FIBA Africa format: Zone 1 through Zone 7.
For the 2024 WBLA Tournament, 12 club teams from across the continent are participating, with AS Ville de Dakar as the hosting club in Senegal. The other clubs at the tournament include:
Zone 6
Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique)
Zone 5
Ahly SC (Egypt)
Sporting Alexandria (Egypt)
APR (Rwanda)
REG (Rwanda)
Zone 4
FAP (Cameroon)
CNSS (DR Congo)
ASB Makomeno (DR Congo)
Zone 3
MFM (Nigeria)
FBA (Côte d’Ivoire)
Zone 2
Jeanne D’Arc (Senegal)
Format
The teams are divided into three groups of four teams in a round-robin format where the best two teams advance to the next stage. The groups this year are:
Group A: AS Ville de Dakar, Al Ahly SC, FAP and MFM.
Group B: Sporting Alexandria, APR, FBA, and CNSS.
Group C: REG, Jeanne D’Arc, ASB Makomeno, and Ferroviario de Maputo.
Games so Far
The hosts, AS Ville de Dakar, had a tough game win against FAP in the opening game on Friday, winning by just three points (57-54). The reigning Champions, Sporting Alexandria, had a dominant opening game, winning with 16 points against FBA. Unfortunately, they fell short to CNSS by two points in their second game (61-59). Al Ahly has had a more dominant display so far in all its games, shying away from the 100 mark by just one point and holding their opponents, MFM, to just 49 points. For its second game, the team won 89-63 against FAP to continue its dominance at the tournament.
APR Stacked Roster
Despite backing its locally based talented team with internationally based players, the team struggled at the tournament in its two group stage games played. The Rwandan-based club team has shown its determination to win this year’s championship with its stacked roster. The team signed the Las Vegas Aces forward, Kierstan Bell, who will most definitely bring expertise and leadership to the team. They also signed Italee Lucas, an American Angolan guard who the Tulsa Shock drafted (rebranded to Dallas Wings) in the 2nd Round as the 21st pick in 2011. She has also played on the Angolan National Team. She played in North Carolina during her college career.
To increase its depth, the team added the Arizona Wildcats player Shaina Pellington, who played as a point guard for the Arizona Wildcats and currently plays in the Canadian league. The team won its first game against CNS (73-68) with just a 5-point difference and lost its second game by 8 points to FBA (63-55).
About the Games
The games will end on December 15, where the best teams must compete for the championship. The games are also an opportunity for African players to showcase their talent and skill on a continental level.
