Nigerian Women's basketball team D'Tigress are champions of Africa for a third time in a row after beating Mali 70-59 in the final of the 2021 Women's AfroBasket on Sunday, September 26, 2021.
After winning two consecutive Women's AfroBasket titles, the D'Tigress looked to snag a historic three-peat against Mali at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports in Yaounde, Cameroon.
From the start of the game, it was clear that the D'Tigress were up for it. From the opening quarter, Nigeria were top, blowing away Mali 22-11.
Victoria Macaulay was efficient in her shooting, scoring 13 points in just six minutes.
The second quarter was tougher with the D'Tigress missing open shorts, but they managed to go into the break with a seven-point lead.
In the third quarter, which ended 28-14, Nigeria showed their dominance and tore Mali apart.
Mali came out more robust in the fourth quarter, but it was too late to put up a fight with the D'Tigress able to consolidate on their lead. The fourth quarter ended 21-11 to round up the game 70-59.
One of the strengths of the D'Tigress at the 2021 AfroBasket Women has been how they could get buckets from just any of their players.
In this final, four players finished in double figures for Nigeria. Macaulay got 15 points, followed by Ezinne Kalu and Ify Ibekwe with both 13. Skipper Adaora Elonu made 12 points.
With this win, the D'Tigress maintain their dominance in Africa with three consecutive Women's AfroBasket titles.
There is no doubt who the best women's basketball team in Africa is with how the D'Tigress dispatched four of the top five teams in Africa.
Skipper Elonu bagged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament and was also named among the Al-Tournament Team of the championship.
She was good all through the tournament, with an average of 10.4points per game.
The Spanish-based player is one of only three players in this D'Tigress team-Kalu and Sarah Ogoke- that have been with this team since 2013 and won three Women's AfroBasket titles.
Nigeria now have five Women's AfroBasket titles, the second most only behind Senegal, who have won it 11 times.
Next for the team is the 2022 FIBA World Cup.