D’Tigress battle Mozambique for Afrobasket semifinal berth
Nigeria’s female national basketball team, D’Tigress will today in Yaounde Cameroon take on Mozambique for a place in tomorrow’s semi finals at the ongoing Afro Basket Championship.
The Scott Nnaji led team had on Tuesday night beat Algeria 79-49 in their fifth and last Group B game to reach the quarterfinals after starting the tournament with a 57-51 defeat to Angola before going on to win the rest of their group matches, beating Egypt 97-68, Guinea 100-47 and Senegal 75-64.
At the tournament, Nigeria’s top performer has been Adaora Elonu, who scored 15 points, had three rebounds, seven steals and +16 efficiency in the last game against the North Africans while Sarah Chika is on top of the competition’s assist list, hitting 5.6 per game.
D’Tigress opponents Mozambique proved too strong for Gabon winning their last game of the Group Phase 79-49. It was the three time finalists third win in five games as they set up a Quarterfinals clash against two time champions Nigeria.
Opposing players the Nigerian team has to be cautious of are Deolinda Ngulela who ignited Mozambique’s offense with 13 points and 4 assists against Gabon and game hero Odelia Mafanela who stood out by making 7 of 10 field-goals shooting to finish with a game-high 23 points in 21:14 minutes.
D’Tigeress captain, Helen Ogunjimi in an earlier interview with Daily Trust expressed the readiness of the Nigerian ladies to win their third African title and also qualify for the Rio Olympics Games in 2016.
“After Angola, we knew what had to be done and thankfully everything clicked against Egypt and Guinea. We hope to continue with the winning streak and by the grace of God go all the way in the tournament,” she said