D’Tigresses for the second time have emerged champions of women’s African women’s basketball after beaten Senegal by 65 to 48 points in the fi nals.
Th e Nigerian ladies proved the hard stuff s they are made of by winning all their games in the Afrobasket championship which ended yesterday in Bamako, the Mali capital.
Both Nigeria and Senegal will however represent Africa at the next year FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Th e two countries picked their tickets to the 2018 world cup after beaten their opponents in the semi fi nals.
Yeserday’s victory marks the second time that Nigeria would be defeating Senegal in the fi nal of the Afrobasket as the D’Tigress also won the tournament in 2005 in Abuja when Nigeria hosted the 17th edition of the competion between December 20th and 28.
D’Tigress defeated host-Mali in a hard fought semi-fi nal game by 48points to 47 while Senegal edged out Mozambique by 72-52 points.
In the Nigeria’s semi-fi nal game, it was Mali’s Tirera Meiya that led the scorer’s chat with 15points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds but it was not enough to upset a more technically balanced Sam Vincent led side who shared the scoring responsibility on the night.
D’Tigress co-captain, Kalu Ezinne steered the battle charge against the host scoring 11points, 6 assists and catching 4 rebounds while Nyingifa Atonye contributed 11 points, 2 assists and 4 rebounds to cap an unforgettable win for the team who last qualifi ed for the fi nals of the Afrobasket in 2005 when Nigeria hosted the tournament.
Despite fouling out midway into the 4th quarter, Akhator Evelyn who was still instrumental to the team’s victory caught 10 rebounds and 5 points in the highly physical game.
Although it was the lowest scoreline the D’Tigress recorded so far in the competition, it was still enough to secure the maximum victory at the expense of the hosts who were left shell shocked
