D’ Tigress: USA were too strong but the girls can only be proud of themselves

The pesky D’Tigress can only leave with their heads high after impressing on the world stag

At the end of the first quarter, the D’ Tigress of Nigeria were ahead against basketball superpowers United States of America with six points in a quarterfinal clash of the ongoing 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.

It would have been unbelievable if the result after the first quarter against favourites United States was projected but these were the Nigerian girls, strutting their stuff against basketball world powers the United States.

 

This is the story of their 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup campaign where they bounced back from a defeat in their opening game against Australia.

They shocked Turkey with a 74-68 win in the second game, beat Argentina 75-70 before the victory against Greece to advance to the quarterfinals.

Despite a fine start in the quarterfinals, the United States soon established a daylight between them and the Nigerians before sealing a win to book a semi-final ticket.

But the pesky D’Tigress can only leave with their heads high after impressing on the world stage despite the shambolic state of basketball in Nigeria which is evident through the chaos at the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

Without proper pre-tournament planning, nobody really gave them a chance, but rather than crumble because of it, they thrived and made history at Nigeria’s first World Cup appearances for more than 10 years.

Everyone should be proud of their efforts.