The D’Tigresses, who have six titles, defeated Cameroon 83-47 to advance to the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament, keeping their title defense alive.
The victory brings them to 27 after starting their unbeaten run in Africa in 2015. It also brings them to a record-equal fifth title in a row. Only Senegal is currently fourth in the world, surpassing Nigeria’s current four.
With their strong hands, Jessica Thomas and Maria Ewodo’s 4-0 start gave the Indomitable Lionesses the only advantage they had before defending champions Amy Okonkwo, who had already been ranked most valuable in the game, put the game to the side.
Rena Wakama’s team took the lead at 5-4 with a jump shot from Elizabeth Balogun, who then went on an 8-0 run in 2:140 to take the lead 21-9.
Cameroon scored 20 points in the second quarter to match Nigeria at both ends of the floor. They were 41-29 at halftime due to a lackluster first-quarter performance.
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The 2021 bronze medalists’ fate was sealed by a 25-2 run in the third quarter, which left them with a 16-14 lead late in the fourth quarter.
The team effort earned Okonkwo 18 points in just under 19 minutes.
With at least one basket, every player on the scoreboard who had more than ten minutes of playing time was included. Four players had double-digit scores.
Cameroon, a former silver medalist, is competing for fifth place, which would be an improvement on their performance from 2023, while Nigeria is continuing to rewrite the history of women’s basketball in Africa.
The outcome was that “we played as a team, enjoying the game by doing what we do best,” the team said. We’re thrilled to have reached the semifinals once more. We’ll make every effort to reach the championship game. They are familiar with us, just like we are. We just need to “do our thing” and watch what happens in the end. Murjanatu Musa, the forward of Nigeria.
