D’Tigress beat Angola to make Afrobasket quarter-finals

D’Tigress, Nigeria’s senior women basketball team, on Monday in Yaoundé beat their Angolan counterparts 85-65 to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2021 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship.

In their final Group B game, the Nigerian side dislodged the Angolans who were leading the group to make it two wins from two matches and emerge as group leaders.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a loss would have seen the Nigerian side finishing second and going to play in the qualifier to quarter-finals match against Cape Verde on Wednesday.

It was a similar route their male counterparts, D’Tigers, carved for themselves at the Men’s AfroBasket a few weeks ago in Rwanda, and it did them no good.

On Monday, D’Tigress ensured none of that by leading from the first quarter, which they won 31-18.

They extended their lead with a 21-10 win in the second quarter, heading for the game’s long break period comfortable leaders with a whooping 24 points.

They however stepped off the throttle in the third and fourth quarters, losing 15-19 and then drawing 18-18 respectively,

Adaora Elonu was a top performer for them, with 10 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Ezinne Kalu grabbed 12 points, just as Ify Ibekwe also had eight rebounds.

With the 67-50 win over Mozambique in their opening group phase game on Saturday, D’Tigress won the group and will now face either one of Cote d’Ivoire or Guinea in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

The two west African sides will meet on Wednesday in the qualifier to quarter-finals to decide which of them would advance to meet Nigeria.

Nigeria have thus avoided the qualifier to quarter-finals stage, where D’Tigers lost to Uganda at the Men’s AfroBasket in Rwanda.

Angola, Group B runners-up after the loss to Nigeria, now have to overcome the hurdle of facing Cape Verde before they can play in the quarter-finals.(