The Nigerian senior women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress have recorded won the Afrobasket championship for the third time in a row.
The D’Tigress defeated Malian counterpart 70-59 to emerge champions of the 2021 edition in Yaounde, Cameroon on Sunday. The Nigerian team won the previous editions in 2017 and 2019.
According to local media reports on Monday, the D’Tigress, who are the defending champions, have been impressive all through the tournament and stayed focused on their objective of breaking records in the final against Mali.
They won the first quarter 22-11 but the Malians bounced back to take the second quarter 13-9 to make it a tight contest at half-time.
In the third quarter, it was the D’Tigress show as Captain Fantastic, Adaora Elonu, Victoria Macaulay and Ezinne Kalu worked so well with the team and they won 28-14.
Mali won the 4th quarter 21-11 and reduced the deficit to 11 points. Macaulay emerged Nigeria’s top performer with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks, while Mariam Coulibally posted 13 points and 9 rebounds to finish as top performer for Mali.
Elonu and Kalu were made the tournament’s All-Star 5. The Nigerian captain Elonu was also voted the MVP of the tournament.
The D’Tigress have also qualified for the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Australia.
GIK/APA