The star player in Senegal’s female basketball team, Ciera Dillard has come out with an emphatic declaration that she and her colleagues did not quit during Saturday’s semi-final clash at AfroBasket 2025 in Cote d’Ivoire.
Sports247 reports that the record holding 11-time winners of the African Women’s Senior Basketball Championship capitulated in the fourth quarter of their semi-finals fixture and eventually lost 75-68 (17-22, 20-21, 15-15, 23-10) to their major rivals.
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A cross-section of analysts at Palais des Sports de Treichville felt the Senegalese gave up the fight due to fatigue, but Dillard, who was born in New York, USA, insists they did not surrender and neither were they tired.
The 29-year-old forward, who currently plays for Sporting Alexandra of Egypt, countered: “We didn’t quit. It was just a three-point difference in the last minute of the game … just 45 seconds.
“I don’t know anyone who would quit within such a short time and just three points separating you in the game.
“Someone also said we were tired, but that was not the key reason why we lost.”
Although she did not mention what went wrong for her team, Dillard gave herself top marks for putting in the best of her efforts to marshal the Senegalese squad at AfroBasket 2025, just six months after copping a career threatening injury.
The former Minnesota Lynx of USA and Stade Casablanca of Morocco ace disclosed with an emotional tone: “I should say this was one of my best performances as the team leader.
“So, personally, I’m very happy with myself. This is the first time I would say it in public, but I think I’ve been trying my best since coming back from an ACL injury in December.
“So, for me to be giving my best for Senegal after just six months of an ACL, I can never give up. I can never give up because my God brought me through.”
Dillard continued in a shaky voice and a few drops of tears in her eyes with details of the pain she went through while injured, but thanked God for helping her storm back to lead Senegal at this championship.
“People don’t understand what it means to pull through in six, seven months … but my God brought me through; to even get to the first game against Guinea.
“In February, I never even imagined playing for Senegal … because I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t ride a bike, I had to hop to stand. So, saying we quit is not truthful for Senegal,” Dillard stressed.
