By Akinwale Kasali
On a day Nigerians lamented the loss by Anthony Joshua of all his world boxing champions, the D’Tigress of Nigeria gave them a gift to be proud of.
The team has become the second country in the continent to win the Female FIBA Afrobasket Championship for the third time consecutively, after Senegal achieved same feat in 1970.
As earlier promised by Coach Otis Hughley Jnr that his team would go all out to defend the the title it won in 2017 and 2019, they did not disappoint their teeming fans with a 70-59 score line against their Malian counterparts at the Palais Polyvalent Des Sport Arena in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
The Nigerian senior women’s basketball team recorded a historic achievement by winning the Afrobasket championship with an outstanding display and impressive performance throughout the competition.
The final against Mali saw a more determined team that was gunning for victory. The team was focused on their objective of breaking records in the final against Mali, and qualifying for the FIBA World Cup in Australia next year, setting the ball rolling in the first quarter with a 22-11 lead, before the Malians bounced back to take the second quarter 13-9, reducing the tally and making it a tight contest at half-time.
The experience of D’Tigress Captain, Adaora Elonu, and the duo of Victoria Macaulay and Ezinne Kalu worked so well with the team and they won 28-14 in the third quarter to give the Malians an Herculean task in getting back into the fierce contest.
In the 4th quarter, the Malians put a strong fight, but they couldn’t withstand the resilience of their more compact and determined opponent, that sustained the momentum, making the late rally of the Malians not yielding any good result, despite the late fight to win the 4th quarter 21-11 and reduced the deficit to 11 points.
The National team best performer for the final was Macaulay, garnering 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
The team of the tournament saw Elonu and Kalu commanding a place in the tournament’s All-Star 5.
Elonu was also voted the Most Valuable Player, MVP of the tournament.
The victory saw the D’Tigress winning its 5th Afrobasket title with previous successes in 2003 and 2005, and also qualifying for the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Australia.
