D’Tigress were the victors of a very well contested match that saw both sides pull off surreal tricks to book a slot in the final of the 2017 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket.
The Nigeria senior women’s basketball team went up against tournament host Mali in a riveting semifinal encounter that ended 48-47 points in favor of Nigeria.
The history of Mali vs Nigeria was a huge cause for worry for D’Tigress, seeing as the former had defeated the Nigerian team in 2015 at the African Games in Congo Brazzaville to claim gold.
However, D’Tigress were not about to let history repeat itself this time around as they tightened their game strategy.
The Game!
The Nigerian ladies started the game on a very good note, ending the first quarter with 3 points ahead of Mali, who were not too far behind with 7 points.
In the second quarter, D’Tigress took their game a step further, outclassing their continental rivals to claim a 13 point win over Mali’s 5 points.
In the 3rd quarter, Mali usurped control of the game, as they gave D’Tigress a mighty run for their money, ending the quarter 17-16 in favor of the Mali ladies.
The result of the fourth quarter saw the margin grow a bit more in favor of Mali as they ended the quarter with 2 times as much points as the Nigerian team who had only 9 points.
Thankfully, D’Tigress put up a rather impressive show in the first two quarters, and this was enough for them to claim the win with one point ahead of Mali who finished with 47 points.
Both Ezinne Kalu and Atonye Nyingifa were Nigeria’s top performers at the match with 11 points each, but Kalu took her game a little further with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Source: MOC
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