Nigeria’s D’Tigress were crowned Champions of the AfroBasket Women’s Championship after trouncing Senegal inside the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Nigeria had taken a huge step towards their fourth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title courtesy of a 79-48 win over hosts Rwanda in the semi-final game on Thursday.
The finale between the two continental giants ended with only 10 points (84-74) separating them as Nigeria became a four-peat African champions, a feat that only Senegal have managed to achieve in history.
Tutored by head coach, Rena Wakama, who now becomes the first woman to lead an African team to a AfroBasket title, Nigeria won the first quarter 19-10 points in the close game.
The Tigress went into the break with 12 points lead as the second quarter ended 43-31 thanks to an exceptional performance by Sarah Ogoke who took the game to the Senegalese, fighting for every ball and scored 10 points.
Senegal fought back in the third quarter and out-shot Nigeria to win 26 points to 19 points. This consequently reduced the Tigress’ lead to just five points as the quarter finished 62-57.
Meanwhile, it was a close game in the final round but the Tigress managed to squeeze out a 22-17 points win in the quarter which was enough for Nigeria to clinch its fourth consecutive AfroBasket Women title.
The West African giants defeated the 2019 finalist Senegal 84-74 to win the competition for the fourth consecutive time, the match was played on Saturday, August 5, 2023.
This victory makes Nigeria the second African country to win the women’s Afrobasket title four times in a row, making it six in total ( 2003, 2005, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023).
