D’TIGRESS ADVANCES TO THE SEMI FINALS IN THE AFROBASKET TOURNAMENT
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BY JEN NOMAMIUKOR
The six-time titleholders, Nigeria’s D’Tigresses, have progressed to the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament by triumphing over Cameroon 83-47, thereby preserving their title defense efforts.
The triumph extends their unbeaten streak in Africa to 27, a run that dates back to 2015, while bringing them closer to achieving a record fifth consecutive title. Only Senegal has accomplished Nigeria’s current achievement of four titles.
Jessica Thomas and Maria Ewodo propelled the Indomitable Lionesses to a 4-0 advantage with their impressive performances. However, that was the only period of control they would experience after the reigning Most Valuable Player, Amy Okonkwo, placed the defending champions on the scoreboard with a free throw.
With a jump shot from Elizabeth Balogun, Rena Wakama’s squad gained the advantage at 5-4, subsequently going on an 8-0 run in the final 2:40 to lead 21-9.
Cameroon adjusted on both ends of the floor to match Nigeria at 20 points in the second quarter. The first-quarter slump saw them trailing 41-29 at halftime.
However, a 25-2 run in the third quarter sealed the fate of the 2021 bronze medalists, rendering their 16-14 lead in the fourth quarter too little, too late.
Despite Okonkwo’s 18 points in just under 19 minutes, the victory was a team effort.
All but one player who got more than 10 minutes of playing time got on the scoreboard with at least one basket. Four players scored in the double digits.
While Nigeria continues to rewrite the history of women’s basketball in Africa, Cameroon, a former silver medalist, is fighting for fifth place, which would be an improvement of one place from their performance in 2023.
“We played as a team, enjoying the game by doing what we do best, and this is the result. We feel great about making it to the semifinals again. We’ll try our best to make it to the finals. We know them and they know us. We just have to do our thing and see what happens in the end.” Nigeria forward Murjanatu Musa.
“We just needed to stick together and play Nigerian basketball. This is the definition of Nigerian basketball: fighting, throwing the first punch, setting the tone, and bringing the energy to win over our supporters and fans. We are super excited to move to the semifinals! It’s going to be a great game. Senegal is a great team, and I’m looking forward to playing them.”- Nigeria guard Ezinne Kalu.
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