2023 Africa Women's Basketball League

The 2023 FIBA Africa Women's Basketball League (FIBA AWBL) was the 27th season of the FIBA Africa Women's Basketball League, the top tier basketball league for women's teams in Africa. The tournament began on 8 December and ended on 17 December 2023, and was held entirely in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.[1] This was the first season under the new name.[2]

2023 Africa Women's Basketball League
LeagueFIBA Africa Women's Basketball League
Season2023
Dates9–17 December 2023
Teams10
Finals
ChampionsEgypt Sporting Alexandria (2nd title)
  Runners-upKenya KPA
Third placeAngola Interclube
Fourth placeRwanda REG
Awards
MVPCierra Dillard
(Sporting Alexandria)
Statistical leaders
Points Tiffany Mitchell (REG)
Seasons
2024 →

Sporting Alexandria were the defending champions, having defeated Maputo in the previous season's final.[3] Sporting successfully defended its title after finishing with a 7–0 record and winning all games by a wide margin.[4]

Name change

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On 15 December 2022, FIBA Africa changed the name of the tournament to the Africa Women's Basketball League.[2]

Qualification

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Nine teams qualified through qualifying tournaments that were organised in the FIBA Africa zones, while Sporting Alexandria automatically qualified as hosts of the tournament.

Type Date Location Vacancies Qualified Ref.
Host team 1   Sporting Alexandria
Zone 3 11-19 December 2023 Abuja, Nigeria 2   Nigeria Customs [5][6]
  ASPAC
Zone 4 3–5 November 2023 Yaoundé, Cameroon 2   OverDose Up Station [7]
  Université de Douala
Zone 5 28 October–4 November 2023 Kigali, Rwanda 3   KPA [8]
  Equity Bank
  REG
Zone 6 Not held 1   Interclube [9]
Wild card 1   CNSS
Total 10

Format

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The ten teams are divided in two groups of five. The first four qualify for the play-offs which are all played in single-elimination games.

Group phase

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The groups were announced by FIBA on 10 December 2023.[10]

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SPO KPA NCS UDO CNSS
1   Sporting Alexandria (H) 4 4 0 411 224 +187 8 Advance to quarterfinals 102–77 98–41
2   KPA 4 3 1 306 260 +46 7 74–59 82–46
3   Nigeria Customs 4 2 2 233 272 −39 6 57–96 53–73
4   Université de Douala 4 1 3 222 311 −89 5 49–115 46–57
5   CNSS 4 0 4 209 314 −105 4 9–10 Classification match 57–66 65–68
Source: FIBA AWBL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification REG GDI EQU OVE ASPAC
1   REG 4 4 0 362 249 +113 8 Advance to quarterfinals 96–89 86–45
2   Interclube 4 3 1 324 228 +96 7 80–55 79–34
3   Equity Bank 4 2 2 268 306 −38 6 50–84 76–73
4   OverDose Up Station 4 1 3 238 290 −52 5 43–76 77–52
5   ASPAC 4 0 4 220 339 −119 4 9–10 Classification match 65–96 69–87
Source: FIBA AWBL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

Classification round

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9th-10th place game

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
CNSS     ASPAC

Final round

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Individual awards

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The awards were announced after the ending of the final on 17 December.[11]

MVP Award
  Cierra Dillard (Sporting Alexandria)
All-Star Team
  Cierra Dillard (Sporting Alexandria)
  Hagar Amer (Sporting Alexandria)
  Madina Okot (KPA)
  Destiney Philox (REG)
  Victoria Reynolds (KPA)

References

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  1. ^ "Cairo - Host City". FIBA.basketball.
  2. ^ a b "FIBA Africa Central Board approves schedule of 2023 General Assembly and Elections". FIBA.basketball.
  3. ^ "Sporting Alexandria crowned 2022 Africa Champions Cup Women winners". FIBA.basketball.
  4. ^ "Alexandria Sporting crowned 2023 AWBL champions". FIBA.basketball. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Nigeria Customs, ASPAC qualify to inaugural AWBL". FIBA.basketball. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Three FIBA Africa Zone 3 teams set to battle for two AWBL tickets". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Overdose Up Station, Universite Douala claim qualification tickets for AWBL". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  8. ^ "REG, KPA make final to qualify for AWBL". FIBA.basketball.
  9. ^ "AWBL - One month to go for Africa's new Women Basketball League". FIBA.basketball.
  10. ^ "All you need to know ahead of the inaugural AWBL". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  11. ^ "MVP Dillard leads 2023 AWBL All-Star team". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 January 2024.