Some basketball fans on Sunday expressed joy over the victory of the Nigeria’s senior women national basketball team, D’Tigress, defeating Mozambique 67-50 at the ongoing 2021AfroBasket Championships.
Their victory further sharpened their aspirations to their defence of their 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Women’s Championship titles in 2017 and 2019 editions.
The sports enthusiasts told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview that the team played well and deservedly won the match but their was more to work for.
Femi Adefeso, a sports pundit, told NAN that he was delighted for the girls, especially getting a good result in their first game of the tournament.
He said that the team played with a lot of confidence and determination even though they were a little bit nervous during the first quarter but they were able to put that aside.
“It was a great game for the D’Tigress team and hopefully the girls can still do better as they have done in the past.
“The likes of Evelyn Ekhator, Aisha Mohammed, Atonye Nyigifa are missing but the coaches definitely must have his reasons.
“The team leadership rests on Ezinne Kalu and Adaora Elonu to deliver their teammates with their vast experience in the championships,” Adefeso said.
Similarly, Deji Adelusi, a sports commentator, described the victory as a perfect start for the team and hopefully do better against their next opponent, Angola.
“It’s a great start for the team, they have proved their zeal to defend their title but there are still many more mountains to climb as there are rougher opponents in that team.
“The team must not allow complacency get to them as Mozambique was not a big threat to their title ambitions, they must concentrate and lift their games higher,” Adelusi said.
Ezinne Kalu emerged top scorer with 17 points, team captain Adaora Elonu also impressed, netting 13.
Nigeria are in Group B alongside Mozambique and Angola, with Group A having hosts Cameroon, Cape Verde and Kenya.
Group C has Senegal, Guinea and Egypt while Group D has Mali, Tunisia, Cote D’Ivoire.
The team will now face Angola on Monday and hope to grab a win to stay top of their group.
In the last four years, the team had emerged as the most successful team in Africa with back-to-back AfroBasket titles won in 2017 and 2019.
The 2021 AfroBasket Women’s Championship, which is the tournament’s 25th edition, is holding from September 18 to 26 in Yaounde.
Four group winners will advance to the quarter-finals, with the remaining eight teams playing for the remaining four quarter-final tickets.
The tournament’s top two teams will qualify for one of the qualifying tournaments for the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
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