Several more national sides booked their places at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women at the continental championships in Africa and the Americas.
Angola and Mozambique earned World Championship berths for the first time by reaching the AfroBasket Women Final in Maputo over the weekend.
Mozambique advanced to the title game with a Semi-Final triumph over Cameroon, while Angola knocked off Senegal.
The Angolans then continued their rise to prominence by capturing the African crown for the second time in a row, beating Mozambique, 64-61, with Nadir Manuel pouring in 21 points.
Manuel was among the Angolans to play at the Olympics for the first time last year in London.
In Mexico at the FIBA Americas Championship for Women, Cuba, Canada and Brazil finished first, second and third, respectively, to claim spots in the 2014 event in Turkey.
Canada stormed into the World Championship field with a 73-48 demolition of Puerto Rico and Cuba also qualified with a 72-68 triumph over Brazil.
Cuba’s 26-year-old power forward Clenia Noblet Salazar, a lynchpin in the squad since 2005, averaged 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in Mexico and had 18 and 11 against the Brazilians.
Brazil dug deep and claimed the last spot on offer in the Americas for Turkey with a 66-56 victory over Puerto Rico in the third-place game.
Two sides went into this year already knowing they would be a part of next year’s tournament.
When Turkey were awarded the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, they were guaranteed a spot in the field.
The United States became the first team to clinch a place when they won the gold medal at the Olympics.
Spain, France and Serbia clinched World Championship spots by winning their respective Quarter-Finals at EuroBasket Women 2013, and both Belarus and the Czech Republic earned places after prevailing in Classification Round games.
Even though Turkey had already qualified, they took part in the EuroBasket Women in France and reached the podium for the second time in a row.
After finishing runners-up in 2011, they defeated Serbia in the third-place game this summer.
Australia beat New Zealand in the FIBA Oceania Championship for Women to claim a place in Turkey 2014.
The World Championship field will be complete once the top three places are determined at the FIBA Asia Championship for Women, which gets underway in late October.
