Bella Murekatete

Bella Murekatete

Bella Murekatete (born 4 July 2000) is a Rwandan female basketball player. She is a player at Washington State Cougars women's basketball and the Rwandan Basketball team.

Murekatete grew up playing football and volleyball in her native Rwanda before discovering basketball. She moved to Post Falls, Idaho on an F-1 visa at the age of 14 to play the sport at Genesis Prep Academy. Murekatete was a three-time first-team all-state selection. She also played with North Idaho Elite on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit. In November 2018, Murekatete signed a letter of intent to play at Washington State.

Murekatete represented Rwanda at the 2015 FIBA Africa Under-16 Championship for Women, where she averaged 14.3 points and a tournament-best 22 rebounds per game and earned all-tournament honors. She notably recorded 24 points and 37 rebounds in a loss to Tunisia.

Murekatete represented Rwanda at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's African Championship, where she averaged 16.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and earned all-tournament honors after leading her team to a fourth-place finish.

Murekatete made her debut with the senior national team in a 2023 Women's Afrobasket qualifier.

Quotes

• I used to hurry shots, but nothing is rushing me anymore because they (the opponents) still believe I can't shoot. That’s something I worked on in the summer.
  • BELLA Murekatete said (cda press, November 29, 2022)
• It’s like the feeling when you work so hard for something and you finally achieve it. It feels like whew.
  • I grew up in Africa and everybody plays soccer there,” Murekatete said.
• We were able to make them take hard shots, and take away what they wanted to do.
  • BELLA Murekatete said (cda press, November 29, 2022)
• I’ve just been very calm, and catching the ball and looking.
  • said BELLA Murekatete (cda press, November 29, 2022)