2017 AfroBasket: D’Tigress tackle Cote d’Ivoire for semi-final ticket

Female Basketballers.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress after their sensational finish in group B will tonight battle with neighbours, Cote d’Ivoire in one of the quarter-final fixtures at the ongoing 2017 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket in Mali.

The two-time African champions had on Wednesday night maintained their unbeaten run after five group matches, as they handed down to the defending champions, Senegal their first defeat in the competition in a game which ended in 58-54.

Nigeria’s Evelyn Akhator posted a player-of-the-match performance with 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and one steal in the grudge game against Senegal.

The WNBA 2017 Draft pick, Akhator said that D’Tigress who won bronze two years ago in Cameroon are on course to grab the title this time.

“We set a goal that we want to win. We came here for the gold. The more we keep playing, the more confidence we keep getting and the more trust we get amongst us,” Akhator told FIBA.com after Nigeria’s victory over Senegal in the last group game.

The duo of Ezinne Kalu and Adaora Elonu amassed 12 and 11 points respectively as Nyingifa Atonye recorded eight rebounds, five assists and six points to ensure the fall of the 11-time AfroBasket champions.

The Ivorians managed only two wins in the group stage at the expense of Central African Republic [104-57] and Cameroon [57-54] as they lost the subsequent three games to Mali [39-61], Angola [62-70] and Tunisia 64-69 thus, on paper may pose little or no threat in tonight’s clash with the Sam Vincent-piloted side.