The Nigerian Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress has done it again!!! They emerged victorious after a heated match with the host country, Senegal, in Darkar Arena.
The AfroBasket Women’s Championship kicked off last week and ended on Sunday, 18th August, 2019.
The tournament which was hosted by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), lasted for 8 days with 12 basketball teams ready to take the winner’s title.
The countries which took part in the tournament include: Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Egypt, Mozambique, Angola, DR Congo, Tunisia, Guinea, Chad, Cameroon and Cote D’ivoire.
It was indeed a battle of the champions at the final as both countries are pretty talented and are not new to winning the championship title.
The Senegalese team have been champions for 11 times while Nigeria has won 4 championship titles.
Check out the highlights of the game.
Nigeria met with Mali at the semi-finals. It was quite a big win as the girls conquered with a scoreline of 79-58. Senegal on the other hand narrowly defeated Mozambique with just three points ahead of the latter team (60-57).
Throughout the tournament, the Nigerian team dominated their games. They stayed on top without recording a defeat through their five games.
Here is a rundown of the team’s winning record for the competition.
Nigeria (75) – Tunisia (26)
Nigeria (100) – Cameroon (39)
Nigeria (79) – DR Congo (46)
Nigeria (79) – Mali (58)
Nigeria (60) – Senegal (55)
The success of D’Tigress at the match made them clinch the title of the first team to win the Championship back to back. Also with this record, they emerged as the highest climbers in FIBA ranking.
They moved up 15 places to settle at the 19th position in the world. The Nigerian Women’s Basketball team are also the 2nd best in Africa, pushing Angola to the third position.
The AfroBasket Women’s Championship was the first qualifying ticket for the chance to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The event will take place in Tokyo, Japan. Therefore, the Nigerian girls will be participate at the Olympic games in 2020.
CONCLUSION
Their male counterparts, D’Tigers are set to compete at the FIBA World Cup in China. We wish both D’Tigers and D’Tigress a whooping success at their upcoming competitions.