Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, defeated Senegal 72-65 on Thursday to win its first game in Group A at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying event in Antwerp, Belgium.
The game saw the Afrobasket champions take the lead in the first quarter, 20-18, but trail Senegal 37-46 in the second quarter.
Senegal maintained the lead at 57-49 at the end of the third quarter, trailing 57-49 heading into the last 10 minutes. Looking low on energy, Nigeria dug deep.
They started the last quarter with a 11-0 run to swing the contest back firmly in their favour.
Amy Okonkwo led Nigeria with an incredible 21 points and 10 rebounds, demonstrating why she was named MVP of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket in 2023.
The D’Tigress endured a real roller-coaster to finish up with a win.
The team will meet the United States on Friday before facing Belgium on Sunday.
(NAN)