FIBA Women’s: USA Ends Nigeria’s World Cup Run

Nigeria’s women basketball team D’Tigress have crashed out of the World Cup after losing to defending champions USA 71-40 in the quarterfinals.

Both teams came into the encounter with two consecutive wins from the group stages but the USA were clear favorites to progress to the semi-finals.

Otis Hugley’s side, however, had other plans. Against all odds, Nigeria won the first quarter 17-9 against a team that hadn’t lost a quarter in the entire competition.

The USA then changed strategy and started the second quarter with intensity. They deservingly overturned the game from 18-6 to lead 27-23 by halftime.

Nigeria tried to fight back in the third quarter but still fell to a seven-point deficit, ending 19-12 in favor of the USA.

The USA finished off the game in style taking a massive 11 points in the final quarter. Looking fatigued, D’Tigress’ were outclassed on  25-5 to finish the game at 71-40.

The USA advanced to the semi-finals where they will take on an elegant Belgium side who beat France in the other semis encounter.

D’Tigress, on the other hand, will face France in a playoff game to determine the fifth to eight best teams.

Nigerian World Cup performances will be considered a massive step in the right direction by all basketball fans on the continent. They qualified for the World Cup after winning Afrobasket 2017, their first continental triumph in 12 years and were considered by many as underdogs.

Heading to the World Cup, they were the second lowest ranked team (42nd) among all 16 participating teams, without a World Cup win, but somehow managed to reach the quarterfinals.

They made history as the first African country to reach the quarter-final stage, considering the age of their team.

(FIBA Images)