The Uganda under-18 women’s National basketball team, the Junior Gazelles, secured a commendable 6th-place finish at the 2026 FIBA U18 Women’s AfroBasket in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.  While the finish marks a two-spot shift from their historic 4th-place run in South Africa two years prior, the tournament showcased the undeniable grit, rising talent, and competitive heart of Ugandan youth basketball on the continental stage.

Journey to the 6th-place finish

He team started their campaign with a game against Kenya. They established themselves from the onset but the Kenyans piled pressure in the second and third quarters. From midway the third quarter, Uganda dominated and won the game 84-57. This victory was huge because it put them in a very good spot to advance to the quarter-finals.

In their second game, Uganda faced hosts, Cote d’Ivoire. They tried to apply some pressure in the first quarter but the hosts ran away with the game. The Junior Gazelles lost the game 80-44 but were still in a good position to advance to the quarterfinals.

Finally, the team faced Central African Republic in their final group game. This was expected to be an easy game and they won it 86:43. However, the stars of the team did not get rest. This was because Uganda had to get a very big points difference so as to have a good seeding ahead of the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, they faced Egypt and lost the game 80-50. The North Africans shot the ball better and also scored a lot of easy baskets under the rim. With this result, the dream of back to back semifinals appearances was cut short. Nonetheless, the players still had something to fight for.

In the first classification game, Uganda once again defeated Kenya but the neighbors put a lot of resistance. Uganda led the game by 10 points at the halftime break but Kenya kept mounting pressure in the second half although they never completed the comeback.  The Junior Gazelles won the game 53-46.

In the final game of the tournament, Uganda lost to Cameroon 81-34 and this is a game that most players would like to forget. Cameroon outmuscled them in all aspects and this was not even a contest.

Top performers

Melissa Taliba was the star of the team although she got an injury in the first game of the tournament. He missed were then greatly reduced but she still put up good numbers. She averaged a double-double with 12 points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals.

Rose Musundi led the Junior Gazelles in scoring with her 16.2 points, 5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 4.7 steals. Mary Hazel Ssengendo was the most efficient player for Uganda and she averaged 9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.7 steals.

Arguably the most important player for Uganda was Vanessa Grace Nakalembe. She was Uganda’s primary ball handler and played the most minutes. She averaged 6 points, 6.3 assists, 5.5 steals and 5.8 rebounds. Josephine Aminat and Olivia Atima were big contributors as they both scored 3.3 points per game and registered 9 and 5.2 rebounds per game respectively.

Lessons for Uganda

The potential for Uganda to make it to the finals was huge. Given the preparations that the team had had before the Ebola crisis, one could argue that everything was set. However, after the qualifiers were moved to Egypt, nothing tangible was done. The team never played in the qualifiers and never had any training sessions.

They met as they were set for travel to Abidjan. To be honest, the girls were not ready. To make matters worse, even some players who were an integral part of the team were left behind as they were going to participate in the FEASSA Games.

That being said, FUBA must have learnt to prepare for adversity better. This could have been a very good opportunity for Uganda to at least make the podium but the lack of preparation after the adversity set the team back.

2028 Campaign

In 2028, the U18 team will have to play in the qualifiers in order to book a place to the championship. Actually, Uganda U16 (women) missed out on playing at the continental stage in 2025. The Federation should have already started the preparing the team for 2027 because that is not very far away.