SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - No one more than Senegal ace Astou Traore hopes that, come Saturday 3 October - the final day of AfroBasket Women 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon - she will be lifting the championship trophy.

If she is injury-free, Traore should be on the defining mission of her basketball career and opponents should look out as she is the town to face whoever comes her way.

Over the course of the past decade or so, playing professionally in Spain and France, Traore has built a reputation of being a lethal scorer for a simple reason: she is an impressive catch-and-shoot type of player.

But, although Senegal have won 10 continental titles over the course of the past four decades, the 34-year-old has never been part of a Senegal winning team. 

And, of course, she has never hidden her frustration at never winning an African Championship.

The sharpshooter has led Senegal to three AfroBasket Finals (2005, 2007 and 2011), but has lost all of them.

Senegal last won a continental title at AfroBasket Women 2009 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, but Traore was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of years ago, in Maputo, Mozambique, the 1.80m forward did everything in her power to reach the top step of the podium, including leading Senegal with 16.6 points per game.

Traore would go on to be named to the All-Star Five alongside Mozambique's pair of Leia Dongue and Deolinda Ngulela, Cameroonian Ramses Lonlack and Angolan Nacissela Mauricio.

But when Senegal faced Mauricio's Angola in the Semi-Final, Traore - who finished with a team-high 15 points - had to deal with an agonising 46-43 defeat.

Obviously, after that close loss, Traore was the most inconsolable of players among the Senegalese. 

I remember waiting to chat to her, but it was simply impossible as she was not in a mood to talk to whoever tried to.

At the time my impression was that Traore will not be retiring from the national team until she wins an African title.

And, at the time, media reports suggested Traore would have retired from the national team had Senegal won the title.

Traore was emotional as Senegal finished third in Maputo 2013

Eventually, Senegal came up with a buzzer-beating 56-53 victory over Cameroon in the Third-Place Game, but Traore returned home with the sense of unfinished business.

And, guess what? When Moustapha Gaye was reappointed as head coach of Senegal's women's team earlier this year and visited a number of foreign-based players, Traore did not hesitated to join the team.  

Therefore, the many heartbreaking defeats with her national team make this year's AfroBasket Women the biggest challenge in Traore's career.

She has been getting ready to face the likes of Angola and Nigeria in Group B, but a hand injury suffered last week in the Preliminary-Round of the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, against Angola has raised questions about her fitness.

Although Senegal head to Yaounde among the front-runners, Traore is likely to face stiff competition, from the likes of Mauricio, Mali's Naignouma Coulibaly or Nigeria's Sarah Ogoke, who equally are on missions of their own.

Traore heads to Yaounde knowing that her African title dream is on the line.

However, we should get ready to see her fighting to help Senegal get the only spot on offer for African teams for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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