D’tigress to arrive in Lagos on Monday

THE Women’s Senior National Basketball team will arrive in Lagos in the early hours of Monday for the second phase of preparations for the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Spain, the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) has revealed.

After weeks of training in Atlanta, the team led by Hughley Otis will have their last training in the United States of America on Saturday before their departure on Sunday.

According to Assistant Coach, Peter Ahmedu, one more player would be dropped from the 14 in camp before the team’s departure for Nigeria. “Currently, we have 14 players including Adaora Elonu, who has been drafted by Atlanta Dreams. We will reduce the number to 13 before we leave for Lagos. We will be able to drop one more player because we have three players (Uju Ugoka, Nkem Akaraiwe and Nkechi Akashili) back home for the next phase of our preparation.” Commenting on life under the new coach, Ahmedu said the team has completely settled in and is now focused on the task ahead.

He described the experience so far as wonderful, adding that he is optimistic that it will translate to a good outing at the World Cup.

“The adjustment has been so tremendous. The players are adjusting day by day while the team chemistry has continued to improve. By the time we round off here on Saturday, we would have been able to achieve our set goal.”