Nigeria’s D’Tigress Snatch Victory from Senegal in Tension-soaked S’final

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, defeated Senegal 75-68 last night in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to move closer to winning the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket title for the consecutive fifth time. No African team has done this previously.

The semifinal victory has extended Nigeria’s unbeaten run in Africa to 28 games, dating back to 2015. It has also lifted D’Tigress above Senegal who were the only other team in Africa to achieve feat of four consecutive wins.

The semi final fixture between D’Tigress who are the first African team, male or female to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games and the Senegalese, was aptly dubbed “The Final Before the Final”. And it lived up to the billing as the two powerhouses in continental basketball gave the game their all.

The Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan came alive with roaring of fans on both sides, expecting thunder to strike.

The Ladies from Dakar raced to an early 11-2 lead within the first three minutes of the opening quarter. 

However, the reigning  champions were not ready to let go their leadership in the continent, yet. D’Tigress mounted a fight back, going on a 13-0 run to take a 14-11 lead before closing out the quarter ahead 22-17.

The second quarter was almost an even one with the Nigerian ladies winning by just one point, ending it 21-20.

Senegal however gave Nigeria a big scare in the third quarter, winning by a wide of 12 points at 21-9. That effectively put them at the lead with 58-52 score line going into the final quarter.

Coach Rena Wakama’s break time talk rewaken D’Tigress. They just left the Senegalese perplexed and not knowing what to do to stop the Nigerians. 

A 23-10 score in the fourth quarter gave a final scoreline of 75-68 that ensured D’Tigress are on their way to playing in the final against either of Mali or South Sudan who were involved in the other semi final late last night.

Expectedly, 2019 Women’s AfroBasket Most Valuable Player (MVP), Ezinne Kalu, led the statistic on the Nigerian side, clocking 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Promise Amukamara was next with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists with Captain Amy Okonkwo registering 15 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist. On the overall, Senegal’s Cierra Dilliard led the pack with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Meanwhile, the six-time champions, Nigeria’s D’Tigress and three other semifinalists  here at the 2025 Afrobasket have qualified for spots in the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup qualifying tournaments, which will take place in March next year.

Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Sudan will join a group of 24 national teams that will compete in four FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 qualifying tournaments. 

Each tournament will feature six teams, and the tournaments will determine the 16 teams that will compete in the Women’s World Cup in Germany.

Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Colombia will represent the Americas in the World Cup Qualifiers.

The European representatives are the 2026 World Cup hosts, Germany; the Czech Republic; Hungary; Belgium; France; Italy; Spain; and Turkey.

The tickets for the World Cup Qualifying Tournaments went to the following Asian and Oceania teams: Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia.