Nigeria’s women senior basketball team, D’Tigress snatched a semifinal
ticket at the ongoing of 2017 FIBA Afrobasket Women championship
yesterday in Bamako, Mali after blowing out Cote d’Ivoire in the
quarterfinal stage 98 to 43 points. The team, captained by Turkey-based Aisha Mohammed had it easy as
they dominated and won all the four quarters against the Ivoriens who
struggled to cope with the superior tactical approach of the Sam
Vincent-led team.
A breakdown of the game saw the team leading at the end of every
quarter with 23-13, 46-15, 71-32 and 98-43, which means the D’Tigress
will face hosts, Mali or Egypt in the semifinal. Akhator Evelyn continued her 5 star performance at the competition as
she powered the team to a confortable quarterfinal victory with
21points, 2 assists and 11 rebounds. Evelyn who lived up to the pre-match hype never disappointed,
providing the platform for her team’s win, as she continues to push for
the Most Valuable Player of the tournament in her first Afrobasket
campaign. D’Tigress co-captain, Kalu Ezinne, put up another impeccable show
contributing 17points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds on a wet Friday
afternoon at the Palais Des Sports Salamatou, Maiga, Bamako.
Elephant Girls Basketball Club of Lagos 3 points specialist, Nkechi
Akashili recorded a 60 percent conversion ratio from the 3points line
as she successfully made 3 out of 5 attempts on her way to contributing
13points for her team. Atosu Upe weighed in with 12points and 4 assists to secure a semi
final ticket.Speaking after the game, Sam Vincent praised her girls for
improving on their last game against Senegal. “I thought we recovered a little bit more from the Senegal game in
terms of getting our fast breaks going, pushing the ball a little bit
higher and finishing well under the basket which we struggled to do
against Senegal. “I thought our defence was more aggressive. In the game against
Senegal, we were down a little bit against the physical players, but we
recovered to play a lot better.”
Despite not reaching the 100point mark, Vincent said a win is a win
irrespective of the final result of the game, which has seen them book a
date in the semi finals. “I am excited about today’s defence, we have only been together for
just six games, yet it’s a team that is really competitive which shows
how good they are and tomorrow will be a good test against Mali.” Ahead of the semi finals against Mali/Egypt, the coach acknowledged
that the game is going to be tough against a bigger and experienced
Malian side.For the team to stand a good chance of proceeding to the
finals and book an automatic 2018 FIBA World cup ticket, Vincent said:
“We know we have to come out, have an exceptional game and really defend
the post very well and we have to get out and run.”
Source: The Guardian
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