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Born on February 3, 1995, in Edo State, Nigeria, Akhator made the headlines in 2017 after being drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as the 3rd overall pick by the Dallas Wings. Her progress would see her earn an invitation to the Nigerian national basketball team and was instrumental in the team’s 2017 FIBA Afrobasket title win in Mali. Akhator who made her debut for Nigeria at the tournament impressed greatly and finished as one of the top five players in Mali. At the 2018 FIBA World Cup, D’Tigress surprised the world by going as far as the quarter-final before being knocked out by the USA, and Akhator was one of the country’s outstanding performers at the global showpiece.
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At the club level, she has also featured in top European basketball nations like Russia, France, Spain, and Turkey. After her exploits at Dallas, the Tigress joined the Russian professional basketball side, WBC Dynamo Novosibirsk in 2017, before moving the following year (2018) to join the Turkish side, Besiktas. She made a brief return to the WNBA by joining Chicago Sky on February 13, 2019, in a training camp deal. Spain would be her next move on May 15, 2019, as she signed for CB Avenida. After few months in Spain, Akhator signed for her present club, Flammes Carolo, in November 2019. Below is a highlight from her time at Kentucky University. Evelyn Akhator was also part of the 2019 FIBA Afrobasket winning D’Tigress squad in Senegal. At the 2018 Nigerian Sports Award, she was named the Best Sportswoman alongside winning the Basketball player award. Sources: Brila Wikipedia Featured Image Source: Brila
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