WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Heading out for international duty, Purdue women's basketball senior Rokia Doumbia was named to the Mali national team for the 2021 Women's AfroBasket from September 17-26 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
With Doumbia's inclusion, a current or former Purdue student-athlete has competed in each of the last eight AfroBasket Tournaments. The first Malian to represent the Boilermakers, Doumbia joins Senegalese alumnae Aya Traore and Fatou Diagne, who combined competed in seven events from 2007-19. Fellow Purdue senior Nyagoa Gony represented South Sudan in its first competition in history during the qualifying stages for AfroBasket earlier this summer.
Doumbia's call-up was her second to the senior squad after making her debut in the 2019 AfroBasket. She averaged 9.1 minutes, one point, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as Mali took home third-place honors.
During her junior career, Doumbia represented Mali across four age divisions. She dropped 14.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game at the 2015 U16 Women's AfroBasket to win the title and be named tournament MVP. Other national stints included an 11th-place finish at the 2017 U17 World Championship, first-place honors at the U18 Women's AfroBasket in 2016 and a call-up for the U19 Women's World Cup in 2017.
The rising senior had a solid first campaign in West Lafayette during the 2020-21 season, coming off the bench in 15 outings. After being declared immediately eligible ahead of the fifth game of the season, Doumbia shot 46.8% from the field and 3.7 points, 3.3 rebounds over 14.7 minutes per game.
Playing in Group D, Mali will face Tunisia on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 9 a.m. ET and the Ivory Coast at 6 a.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 20. All teams advance to the knockout stages which starts Sept. 22. Ranked No. 41 in the would, Mali finished their in the 2017 and 2019 editions. All games will be streamed on the FIBA YouTube page.