Nigeria senior Women national team, D’Tigress earned a hard victory over Cote d’Ivoire in Game-3 of the FIBA Africa Championship for Women Zone-III qualifiers by 71-64 points to book a place in the final round of the 21st FIBA Africa Championship for Women billed for Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The third game became necessary after both side tied on points for and against with Cote d’Ivoire winning Game-1 on Monday by 55-52 while Nigeria won the second game Tuesday by 66-63 points to stretch the elimination series into a third game to break the ties.
Both sides had begun the third game on a fast but cautious note with Nigeria winning the first quarter by 23-20 points, the Coach Ayo Bakare tutored Nigerian side extended the gap between her and her Ivories counterpart in the second quarter with a 23-11 points win to go into the break with a 46-31 points advantage.
The Coach Simon Guillou tutored young Ivories side came into the third quarter with greater zeal and determination which paid off for them as they won the quarter by 16-14 points to reduce the gap by two points.
The Kani Kouyate inspired Ivories side determination to upturn the table against their Nigerian foe in the fourth quarter only yielded a 17-11 point’s win for a cumulative scoreline of 71-64 points in favour of Nigeria.
Nigeria forward, Rashidat Sadiq led her team with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Vera Ellong added 14 points while the duo of Mfon Udoka and Tamunomiete Whyte contributed 12 points each.
Mariama Kouyate led the floor with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, her kid sister and teammate Kani Kouyate added 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
FIBA Africa