2023 Africa Women's Basketball League Explained

League:FIBA Africa Women's Basketball League
Dates:9–17 December 2023
Season:2023
Teams:10
Champions: Sporting Alexandria (2nd title)
Runners Up: KPA
Third Place: Interclube
Fourth Place: REG
Award4:MVP
Award4 Winner:Cierra Dillard
(Sporting Alexandria)
Prevseason Year:2022
Prevseason Link:2022 FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup
Nextseason Link:2024 Africa Women's Basketball League
Nextseason Year:2024
Top Scorer:Tiffany Mitchell (REG)

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]

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

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

Qualification

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

TypeDateLocationVacanciesQualifiedRef.
Host team1 Sporting Alexandria
Zone 311-19 December 2023Abuja, Nigeria2 Nigeria Customs[5] [6]
ASPAC
Zone 43–5 November 2023Yaoundé, Cameroon2 OverDose Up Station[7]
Université de Douala
Zone 528 October–4 November 2023Kigali, Rwanda3 KPA[8]
Equity Bank
REG
Zone 6Not held1 Interclube[9]
Wild card1 CNSS
Total 10

Format

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

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

Group B

Classification round

9th-10th place game

Individual awards

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)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cairo - Host City. FIBA.basketball.
  2. Web site: FIBA Africa Central Board approves schedule of 2023 General Assembly and Elections. FIBA.basketball.
  3. Web site: Sporting Alexandria crowned 2022 Africa Champions Cup Women winners. FIBA.basketball.
  4. Web site: 2023-12-19 . Alexandria Sporting crowned 2023 AWBL champions . 2024-01-29 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  5. Web site: 2023-12-06 . Nigeria Customs, ASPAC qualify to inaugural AWBL . 2023-12-16 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  6. Web site: Three FIBA Africa Zone 3 teams set to battle for two AWBL tickets . 2023-12-16 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  7. Web site: 2023-11-05 . Overdose Up Station, Universite Douala claim qualification tickets for AWBL . 2023-12-16 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  8. Web site: REG, KPA make final to qualify for AWBL . FIBA.basketball.
  9. Web site: AWBL - One month to go for Africa's new Women Basketball League. FIBA.basketball.
  10. Web site: All you need to know ahead of the inaugural AWBL . 2023-12-16 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  11. Web site: MVP Dillard leads 2023 AWBL All-Star team . 2024-01-29 . FIBA.basketball . en.