Igoche Mark has lauded Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, for their victory at the 2023 Afrobasket championship in Kigali, Rwanda.
The defending champions, D’Tigress, defeated their Senegalese counterparts 84–74 in the final of the championship on Saturday to win their fourth straight title.
An elated Mark said that D’Tigress’ victory was confirmation of her dominance of the sport in Africa.
He commended the team for their superlative performance in the tournament and praised them for doing the nation proud.
“Clearly now D’Tigress dominance of the sport is indisputable.
“This is the evidence that Nigeria’s women’s basketball program can be ranked as a world-class programme.
“We have to sustain this momentum. This is remarkable, winning the Afrobasket Championships for an unprecedented fourth time.
“I salute the team (D’Tigress) for their professional commitment and execution. They have indeed put smiles on the faces of Nigerians and have done the nation proud against all odds,” he said.
Nigeria has been on top of women’s basketball in Africa after winning it five times in 2003, 2005, 2017, 2019, and 2021.
The 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket was a remake of the 2019 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket that was hosted by Senegal, in which Nigeria won their second straight title after seeing off the hosts 60-55 in a packed Dakar Arena.
They would later meet again, this time at the 2021 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket semi-finals in Yaounde, Cameroon, where Nigeria once again walked away with a flawless 73-63 victory.
Nigeria would later claim the famous three-peat in the capital city of Cameroon.
D’Tigress had a smooth start to their tournament and kept a perfect record since setting foot on the court at the BK Arena on July 28 en route to the final.
They finished with significant victories over DR Congo, Egypt, Mozambique, and hosts Rwanda before beating Senegal in Saturday’s final.
Rena Wakama, a former player who led D’Tigress to victory, was the only female head coach at the 2023 edition of FIBA’s flagship event for women.
The result also meant she became the first female coach to have accomplished this feat in the history of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket championship.
