D’Tigress, Nigeria senior women’s basketball side, suffered their first defeat at the ongoing 2026 FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament when they went down 77-60 to South Korea on Thursday.
Nigeria had thrashed Colombia 70-37 in their opening encounter on Wednesday, but were defeated this time around by South Korea, who claimed their first win.
Despite having qualified by winning the 2025 AfroBasket tournament, the Nigerian senior women basketball side are using this tournament to prepare for the World Cup later this year.
South Korea 77-60 Nigeria
Nigeria, fresh off their big win over Colombia, faced South Korea who were defeated 76-49 by World Cup hosts Germany in their opening encounter and were eyeing a first win.
Elizabeth Balogun, Murjanatu Musa, Amy Okonkwo, Ezinne Kalu and Promise Amukamara started for D’Tigress, just like they did in the win on Tuesday.
However, it was South Korea who took the lead in the first quarter, recording a 20-16 victory in a keenly-contested affair.
Nigeria improved in the second quarter and closed a four-point deficit in the quarter which ended 16-16, with the scores at 36-32 heading into the interval.
The third quarter started with both sides trading points, but South Korea edged it once again with a 22-19 scoreline, to take a 58-51 point lead into the final quarter of the game.
Nigeria then lost the final quarter once again, going down 19-9 as they failed to win any of the four quarters and slumped to a 77-60 defeat.
What next?
The D’Tigress will have a day rest before facing New Zealand in their next outing on Saturday hoping to return to winning ways, while South Korea also face Colombia on the same day.
