Akhator double-double takes D’Tigress past defending champions Senegal at #AfroBasketWomen2017
The Nigeria women national basketball team, D’Tigress, cap off a brilliant group stage performances with a 58-54 win over defending and 12-times champions Senegal on Wednesday at the ongoing FIBA Afro Basket Women 2017 in Mali.
Once again it was WNBA third round overall pick Evelyn Akhator who lead the Nigerians to a statement of intent victory over their Western African rivals.
Akhator recorded another double-double on the night to help Nigeria keep hopes of winning the FIBA Afro Basket Women title again and held into the knockout stages full of confidence.
She had 13 rebounds 11 of which are defensivestill to show her impact in the “d” on the low scoring game, 2 were offensive and she added 15 points which was the highest scored by any player from both teams.
Nigeria went into the break with a slim 8 points lead having ended the first half 34-26 in an entertaining but cautious match up.
The defending champions won both of the last two quarters 15-14 and 13-10 but we’re not enough to overtune D’Tigress lead and in the end it was 58 Nigeria and 54 Senegal.
Nigeria who finished top of their group will now play Ivory Coast who finished fourth in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Adaora Elonu (10) and Ezinne Kalu (11) also had double digits in points while Traore led the Senegalese in points with 13.
