Angola: FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 Team Profile

Angola: FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 Team Profile

The two-time AfroBasket champions have struggled in recent years after being placed ninth and eighth in the past two AfroBasket competitions. They qualified in Luanda when they defeated Mozambique in a two-game series with the support of their home crowd. However, they are aware that it will be different in Abidjan, and coach Paul Macedo has pulled out all the brakes for his 15-woman preliminary squad. He has relied on some familiar faces that helped them qualify and has brought in some young blood.

They are drawn in group A alongside the hosts, Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt. They will be leaning on the experience of Italee Lucas who has been a staple in this national team. Lucas who got her Angolan citizenship in 2015, after winning the FIBA U19 World Cup with the USA, will look to bring her international experience to this team in the twilight years of her career. The Angolan fans will remember her big plays in the qualifying game against Mozambique. Alongside her will be the ever-reliable point-guard, Sara Caetano, who plays in Portugal for Quinta Dos Lombos. The 23-year-old point-guard, took the world by storm when she averaged 12.5 rebounds per game during the qualifiers. Her small stature is magnified when she puts on the famous red shirt for the national team.

One of the young talents added to the team is Osemilda Rodrigues who took part in the FIBAU18 AfroBasket last year in Pretoria, South Africa. Despite a limited role on the team, she has since made big strides in her career, playing for Clube Desportivo Agosto in Angola. The 18-year-old will look to not only soak in the knowledge crucial to carry the nation's mantle in the future, but also leave her mark on this team. Veteran, Cristina Matiquite is also in the squad. The center knows her way well around the rim and is a solid rebounder. She is also the only player in this team to have won an AfroBasket. She was part of the team that won in Bamako in 2011. She regards that as the biggest honor of her career.

The most important time in my career was when Angola won [Women’s AfroBasket] for the first time in 2011 and in the same tournament, I was given the opportunity to work with excellent players and it was a big achievement for me. So for 2025 in the AfroBasket, my biggest goal is to make sure Angola gets to be champion again.

There are perhaps two other young talents that the fans would have wanted to see added to the list who were cut out – Daniela Gongo and Luisa Amaral. Both players led the Angolan side at the U18 AfroBasket in Pretoria last year.

The other players that make up the list of players going to Abidjan are:

Princila Valera

Artémis Afonso

Joana António

Isabel Fernandes

Magda Mussol

Denise Pascoal

Cácia António

Cenceicão Caetano

Nelma Cunha

Cristina Correia

Angelina Golome

Teresa Ndemba

Alexia Dizeko

Avelina Peso

Domilda Lussati

The Angola will invoke the same spirit that led them to gold in 2011 in Bamako and 2013 in Maputo. They know what it takes to return to glory. They are also aware that the competition that lies ahead is far more difficult than the ones they have faced before but this team is known to rise in the face of adversity.

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[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]