By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria on Saturday won an incredible fourth consecutive FIBA Women’s Afrobasket tournament after beating Senegal 84–74 in the final match at the BK arena in Kigali.
The victory also means that the Nigerian basketball team have won six titles.
The team also referred to as D’Tigress, begun their win haul in 2017 after a 12-year hiatus.
After winning the tournament that year, they haven’t stopped firing.
They had won the 2019 and 2021 editions.
From the beginning of this year’s contest, D’Tigress surprisingly won all their matches before they outclassed Mozambique in the semi-final till the final stage.
At the final, both Senegal and Nigeria marched themselves toe to toe from the blast of the whistle.
The Nigerians with mainly young players participating for the first time in the competition, won all the quarters with slim margin as the Senegalese battled all through.
Wakama Effect
Saturday’s four-peat means the team’s gaffer, Rena Wakama, who appointed June 30, 2023, is the first female coach to win the Women’s Afrobasket competition, weeks after she was appointed to lead the side.
Wakama was not the only person that made history with the win since 1966 when the tournament began.
Amy Okonkwo also earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) prize for her impressive showing in the East African nation.
