The Nigerian female basketball team, D’Tigress, has defeated the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire 72-56 this afternoon, 23rd September 2021, at the AfroBasket Women 2021. The game took place at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports Arena in Yaounde, Cameroon. The Nigerian team eased past Angola and Mozambique in the preliminary stages of the competition to secure a quarter-final match against Cote d’Ivoire.
With an emphatic 24-8 win in the first quarter, the D’Tigress already made it clear they were out for blood. The subsequent two quarters were 19-13 and 16-14 respectively. They then lost the final quarter 13-21, with their win secure. As Ezinne Kalu noted after the game, they became comfortable and complacent in the game’s final quarter.
Ezinne Kalu led the scoring chart with a remarkable 100% free-throw line success. She was followed by Victoria Macaulay and Promise Amukamara with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Macaulay had seven rebounds as she tops that list.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Otis Hughley, the Nigerian team coach, noted that poor officiating would prevent the best players from coming to the AfroBasket championship. He complained that the officials were not using fouls to prevent players from being abusive.
D’Tigress will prepare to face the winner between Mozambique and Senegal in the second semi-final match on Friday.
