The Nigeria senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, began their campaign at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament today with a convincing 70-37 win over Colombia.
The D’Tigress have already qualified for the World Cup later this year after winning the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket and are using this tournament in France as further preparation for the World Cup, which is scheduled to hold from September 4 to 13 in Germany.
Nigeria topped group D at the AfroBasket tournament ahead of Mozambique and Rwanda, before defeating Cameroon, Senegal and then Mali in the final to win their seventh title.
D’Tigress trounce Colombia in opening clash
Nigeria, ranked eighth in the world began their campaign at the tournament in Villeurbanne against Colombia, who are ranked 19th in the FIBA rankings.
The 12-woman squad for the tournament were captain Amy Okonkwo and guards Ezinne Kalu and Promise Amukamara, The team was also made up of the likes of Sarah Ogoke, Elizabeth Balogun, Nicole Enabosi, Victoria Macaulay, Murjanatu Musa, Pallas Kunayi-Akpanah, Rita Igbokwe, Ifunaya Okoro and Blessing Ejiofor.
Kalu, Musa, Okonkwo, Balogun and Amukamara started the clash against Colombia and D’Tigress raced into an 18-12 lead in the first quarter.
Colombia tightened things in the second quarter and won 17-16, as Nigeria went into the halftime break with just a five-point advantage with the scores at 34-29.
The break did a lot of good for the Nigerian women side as they were off the blocks quickly in the third quarter, racing into an early 9-0 lead, making the scores 43-29.
They eventually claimed a 19-5 lead in the quarter and an overall 53-34 advantage heading into the final quarter of the clash.
The fourth quarter followed similar pattern to the third as Nigeria won 17-3, sealing a 70-37 win to begin their campaign on a high.
What next?
The D’Tigress will face South Korea in their next encounter on Thursday, before also facing Philippines, France and Germany on March 14,15 and 17 respectively.
