If you win once, there is an element of luck. If you win twice, then you are good. D’Tigress have, however, won three times in a row. And this time, they did it in style, reminding the world why they are the Basketball Queens of Africa.
There were lots of expectations on the Nigerian team to defend their title especially after the unceremonious crashing of the male basketball team earlier this month from the Men’s AfroBasket and they did not disappoint.
They conquered Group B by defeating both Mozambique (67-50) and Angola (85-65). The female Cote d’Ivoire team did not have better luck against Nigeria in the quarter-finals (56-72). D’Tigress took revenge on behalf of the country that gave the male Nigerian basketball team their first defeat in the men’s competition.
Senegal put up a fight in the semifinals but still fell 10 points short of Nigeria (63-73), setting up a final step towards glory with Mali standing in the way. Nigeria did not disappoint as they took the game to Mali right from the first quarter and they maintained a healthy lead till the final whistle in the last quarter with the scores at 59-70 in favour of D’Tigress.
Nigeria is now the second country to win the AfroBasket Championship five times and three times in a row after Senegal who has been African champions eleven times. This win guarantees a spot for Nigeria at the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Ezinne Kalu, Victoria Macaulay and Adaora Elonu were the major standout performers in the team. The Captain of the team, Adaora Elonu averaged 10.4 points per game, making the All-Tournament team of Women’s AfroBasket 2021. Victoria Macaulay and Ezinne Kalu averaged 10.0 and 12.4 points per game respectively.
With the strong outing shown by the female basketball team, the ghost of the past Olympics is long gone and there is a rising hope and inspiration in subsequent competitions.
