Rwanda’s U-16 girls' team qualify for 2023 FIBA Afrobasket
Friday, June 30, 2023
Rwanda’s U-16 girls' basketball team qualified for the 2023 FIBA Africa U16 championships after defeating Tanzania on Friday, June 30, . Dan Gatsinzi

Friday

Rwanda 66-65 Tanzania

Rwanda’s U-16 girls' basketball team on Friday, June 30, qualified for the 2023 FIBA Africa U16 championships after defeating Tanzania at the FIBA U16 Zone V African Basketball Championship qualifiers in Kigali.

The 2023 FIBA Africa women’s finals will take place in Monastir, Tunisia, from July 13 to 23.

Rwanda edged Tanzania 66-65 to record their first win at the three-day tournament.

Rwanda’s U-16 girls' basketball team celebrate at Lycee de Kigali after qualifying for the 2023 FIBA Africa U16 championships

ALSO READ: FIBA Africa U16 qualifiers: Rwanda eyes winning start against Burundi

The win was enough to seal qualification from the 3-team group stages, after Burundi was disqualified for using over-age players.

ALSO READ: LDK Gymnasium to host FIBA Africa U16 Zone 5 qualifiers

During their game against Tanzania, Rwandan youngsters were inspired by Emlyne Iragena Mahoro&039;s heroics as she dropped a game-high 20 points and 7 rebounds. Her counterpart Liliane Ingabire contributed 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Tanzania’s Elizabeth Laizer was their opponent’s top scorer with 20 points and 23 rebounds while her teammate Upendo Isaya Katamboi dropped 15 points.

The girls’ category attracted three teams – hosts Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, playing in a round-robin format.

In the boys’ category, Rwanda finished second after losing the last game against Burundi 80-90, with Uganda in the first spot.

This means that the Uganda U-16 boys’ team qualified for the 2023 FIBA Africa Under-16 Championships after winning all games in the FIBA U16 Zone V African Basketball Championship qualifiers concluded in Kigali on Friday.