D’Tigress suffer 77–60 defeat to South Korea in World Cup qualifiers

Nigeria’s women’s national basketball team lost 77–60 to South Korea women’s national basketball team in their latest game at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifiers in France.

The defeat ended D’Tigress’ six-game winning run and was their first loss in the qualifying tournament.

Nigeria went into the match with confidence after a strong victory over Colombia women’s national basketball team earlier in the week. However, the African champions struggled to deal with the fast and accurate shooting of the Korean team, who are ranked below them in the world rankings.

The Nigerian side, coached by Rena Wakama, failed to win any of the four quarters of the match. They lost three quarters while the second quarter ended level.

Victoria Macaulay was Nigeria’s top scorer with 22 points and six rebounds. Ezinne Kalu also played an important role with six assists, while Murjanatu Musa added 10 points.

D’Tigress started the game well and controlled much of the first quarter. But South Korea finished strongly, scoring eight quick points while Nigeria managed just one, allowing the Asian side to take the quarter 20–16.

The second quarter was closely contested as both teams showed strong defence and energy. However, South Korea slowly gained control of the match, making good use of long-range shooting and finishing the game with 14 successful three-point shots.

The Korean team sealed the victory in the fourth quarter with a strong 14–2 run, while Nigeria struggled to score and managed only nine points in the final period.

The loss is Nigeria’s first defeat to South Korea in three meetings and brings an end to D’Tigress’ six-game winning streak.

Nigeria will now aim to bounce back when they face the Philippines women’s national basketball team in their next group match on Saturday.