By Babatunde Ogunrinde

Nigeria’s senior women basketball team, D’Tigress, on Saturday defeated Senegal 84-74 to win the 2023 Afrobasket Championship in Kigali, Rwanda.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team put up superlative performances to win the title for a fourth consecutive time.

They had much in abundance in Amy Okonkwo, Murjanatu Musa, Sarah Ogoke and Ifunaya Okoro who were crucial for the Nigerian side

Okonkwo, as usual, unleashed the necessary qualities that kept Senegal on the back foot and she was so fantastic throughout the competition.

Her efforts were acknowledged, leading to her winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

D’Tigress dominated the game and never gave Senegal any chance to dream, recording scorecards of 19-10, 24-21, 26-19 and 22-17 in the four quarters of the game.

History was also made as the Head Coach of D’ Tigress, Rena Wakama, was the first indigenous female coach to lead a national team to  win the Afrobasket championship trophy.

At the post-match conference, Wakama praised the team for the doggedness, hard work and passion to achieve such feat in the short time they were put together.

“I’m very proud of my players. They deserve the accolades. Indeed this is  a great achievement that should be rewarded.

“We did not have enough time to train together, yet they brought in their professionalism and were marvelous in winning the trophy,” Wakama said.

In a reaction, Queen Moseph, a sports journalist, described the victory as wonderful as the players have shown their qualities and proven their passion to win for the nation.

“We are very happy for them. They deserve the praises as they have lifted the spirits of many basketball loving Nigerians.

“We have always believed in them and winning four straight championship titles show how incredible the senior national team is,” Moseph said.

Kelechi Benard, a sports commentator, described the victory as a very good one for Nigeria especially for the girls who just came together for a week to train.

“The team has proved to many basketball faithful that hard work pays and team coordination is just what can make us to achieve more,” he  said.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chidinma Agu/Joseph Edeh