Egypt’s Cierra Dillard was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player on the day Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) won the inaugural Africa Women’s Basketball League (AWBL) championship at home.
The American-Senegalese point guard, who averaged 12.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in seven games, was a key contributor to ASC’s historic AWBL edition victory.
In the nine-day competition’s championship game, ASC defeated Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 103-59 behind Dillard’s 5-for-9 shooting performance, which finished with 17 points and 4 assists.
Dillard had previously assisted ASC in winning the inaugural Africa Champions Cup for Women in Maputo, Mozambique, a year prior. This was her second consecutive appearance at a FIBA Africa clubs competition
Together with her teammate and the previous year’s MVP, Hagar Amer, Destiny Philox, Victoria Reynolds, and Madina Okot, Dillard was also named to the 2023 AWBL MVP team.
Amer, a member of the Egyptian national team, dominated the AWBL final. She finished with a game-high 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals, making 11 of her 18 shots, and she assisted ASC in winning the newly renamed competition.
Amer, 30, who won the MVP award the previous season, led ASC with averages of 21.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, team highs.
One of the AWBL highlights of this year, shooting guard Destiney Philox of Rwanda Energy Group (REG), was named to the All-Star team for her leadership throughout the competition.
The American-Rwandese player, who played a standout role for Rwanda in the 2023 Women’s AfroBasket, finished third place behind Inter Clube 83-68 despite scoring 25 points and dishing out five assists.
However, Philox cemented her place in AWBL history when she finished with 41 points in a 101-97 Semi-Finals loss to KPA, setting a record for most points scored in a single game.
The All-Tournament team was completed by Victoria Reynolds and Madina Okot of KPA, who made history for the club by helping the Kenyan champions advance to the Semi-Finals.
Okot, 19, who finished as the AWBL’s top rebounder, averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds per game while Reynolds averaged a team-high 19 points and 4.7 assists per game.
Tiffany Mitchell of REG was named the team’s top scorer with 23.7 points per game, while Destiny Pitts of ASC was the best three-point shooter with an average of 14.3 points and 27 made three of her 44 attempts.
The Fair-Play award was given to DR Congo’s CNSS, who placed ninth with a 1-4 score.
FIBA
