DAKAR
(Senegal) – The dominance of Nigeria continued at the FIBA Women’s
AfroBasket as they won their second straight title against Senegal 60-55
in a tightly contested Final on Sunday night at the magnificent
15,000-seater Dakar Arena.
D’Tigress, who registered a perfect
five-game unbeaten run at the biennial competition, looked perfect all
tournament on their way to win their fourth African title.
Otis
Hughley Jr and his side ensured that Nigeria become only the second team
to defend their title having won it in 2003 and defended it at home in
Abuja in 2005.
Nigeria started the game on top of the
proceedings and led both the first and second quarters to enter the half
time break with a 32-24 lead and even though Senegal made a strong
comeback in the third quarter to tie the game at 54-up with 2:24 to play
in the last quarter, D’Tigress dug deep to eventually win the coveted
trophy.
“We have been here before. We prepared ourselves as
though every game would be like this. It is just that the previous games
did not give us live training outside of playing ourselves so when that
came, we had already been programmed. It is entrenched in our DNA to be
ready for a tight game, make smart decisions and take care of the ball
and that is what we did,” explained Hughley Jr.
Evelyn Akhator
scored 14 points and made nine rebounds and her amazing performance
throughout the tournament earned her a place in the Tournament Five.
Her
teammate Ezinne Kalu will smile her way back home after being named the
undisputed TISSOT MVP as she joined Akhator in the Tournament Five.
Astou Traore stood out for Senegal with 13 points and six rebounds to earn her place in the Tournament Five deservedly so.
Earlier
in the day, Mali saw off Mozambique 66-54 to win bronze for the second
edition in a row much to the distress of the southern Africans who put
in a good shift this tournament.
Touty Gandega, who inspired
Mali with 12 points and six assists, earned her way to the Tournament
Five for guiding her side to the podium.
On the other hand, Leia
Dongue scored a game high 22 points and five rebounds but her efforts
were not enough to help Mozambique win a medal at this tournament.