D’Tigress beat Congo, qualify for semifinals

Nigeria’s women national team, D’Tigress continued their assured march to retain their title yesterday when they defeated Congo to qualify for the semifinals of the FIBA Women Afrobasket holding in Senegal.

Although the Congolese team had tall and athletic players, the D’Tigress had a fairly easy ride, winning by a 33-point margin.

Congo took the first basket of the game and seemed to be in charge of the first quarter. But the Otis Hughley led side quickly rallied to the task, winning the first and second quarters 22 to 9 and 38 to 23 respectively.

The Nigerians continued their dominance of the game in the third quarter, with Ezinne Kalu leading the floor with 17 pints, five steals and two assists.

Victoria Macaulay and Adaora Elonu added 14 points and 11 points respectively to end the third and fourth quarters 61-32 and 79-46 respectively.

The Nigerians will take on the winner of the quarterfinal between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, two members of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries team, Marvelous Abel and Fumnanya Ijeh have promised to do the nation proud as they join two other players that will be flying Nigeria’s flag at the Africa Games in Morocco.

Speaking to the media shortly before their departure, Ijeh said she was excited making the Nigerian team.

“I was pleasantly surprised that I was picked to represent Nigeria at the Africa Games even though we had more experienced players in camp but truth be told, I gave it my all during trainings.

“My secret and that of my club teammate, Marvelous was fervent prayers and hard work. You know we pray very hard in MFM and we are also taught the value of hard work by our coach, Aderemi Adewumi who told us to go to Abuja and prove to the national team handlers that we are there on merit,” she explained.

Just like Fumnanya, Marvelous Abel revealed that they’re in Morocco to make Nigeria and the church proud.