Nigeria’s women national basketball team, D’Tigresses, yesterday continued their impressive outing at the on-going FIBA Afrobasketball Championship in Mali by beating Egypt in their third game of the competition.
The team had beaten Mozambique in their opening game on Friday, defeated Congo in the second game on Saturday before yesterday’s whitewash of Egypt.
The win took the D’Tigresses to the quarterfinals of the competition and closer to a third Afrobasket title, as well as a World Cup ticket.
The team set a new team record with a 106 points to 72 pummelling of the North African side to become the first county to book their passage to the next round after their third group game played.
Evelyn Akhator shone like a million stars as she provided the needed platform on which the team built their victory.
The Dallas Wings player scored 24 points, five assists and another impressive 13 rebounds against a more physically imposing Egyptian side.
Ever dependable Ezinne Kalu also stepped up her display to record 18 points, three assists and five rebounds during her 24:08 minutes’ stint on the court.
Nyingifa Atonye continued her resurgence after a sloppy opening game registering 12 rebounds, five assists and 15 points.
A breakdown of the four quarters saw the Sam Vincent-led team ending the first quarter with a 20 to 15 points lead before scoring 30 more points in the second quarter against their opponents, who could only manage 14 more points.
The team extended their lead to 79 to 49 at the end of the third quarter before hitting the 100 point mark as they emerged with a personal competition record of 106.
Speaking at the post match press conference, Akhator described the D’Tigresses as a young side with the ability to dominate offensively and defensively, which, according to her, is a plus.
On her performance, she said, “I just came out to play and try to get better every other day. I think I am getting used to the plays and the court and getting the trust from my teammates really helped me.”
The team will observe today as a rest day before facing Guinea tomorrow in their fourth group game.
Hello, my name is Nathaniel Ayobami . I'm a 22 year old student Nigeria .
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