Women's Basketball Signs Fatima Diakhate
Apr 28 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Head coach of Rutgers women's basketball, Gary Redus II, made another addition to the 2026-27 roster with the signing of redshirt senior Fatima Diakhate. The 6-foot-5 forward began her collegiate career at Georgia before spending last season at Pitt.
"Being able to bring in a player of Fatima's size, skill set and experience is critical to how far this team can go," Redus said. "No team wins without a presence in the paint, and we know she'll fulfill that role for us. We expect her to dominate her match up nightly, control the boards and give us an anchor on both ends of the floor. We're excited to add a person and player of her caliber to our program."
Welcome to the Block Party 🛑👋
— Rutgers Women's Basketball (@RutgersWBB) April 28, 2026
Excited to have Fatima in Piscataway!
📰: https://t.co/EZjYn7wOmI#GoRU | #RUWBB pic.twitter.com/zlGjTllMyn
During the 2025-26 campaign with the Panthers, Diakhate played in all 31 games with 27 starts. She averaged 9.4 points per game while shooting a team-best 56.1 percent from the field and 71.1 percent from the free throw line. She reached double figures in 15 contests, including a career-high 20 points against Cornell (Nov. 11), and recorded nine double-doubles on the season.
The Dakar, Senegal native made a strong impact defensively, averaging 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game to lead Pitt in both categories and rank sixth in the ACC. She set a Petersen Events Center record with eight blocks against Central Connecticut State (Dec. 1) and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds in games against both Notre Dame (Dec. 29) and Florida State (Jan. 15).
Prior to Pitt, Diakhate played two seasons at Georgia. She started 28 of 29 games during the 2024-25 season, leading the team with 21 blocks and ranking second with 145 total rebounds. As a redshirt freshman (2023-24), she appeared in 28 games, totaling 12 blocks to rank fourth on the team.
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