D’Tigress Stun Mali, Nick 2022 FIBA World Cup Ticket

Nigeria’s female Basketball team, D’Tigress dug deep in beating Mali 73-69 on Sunday afternoon to qualify for the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup holding in Sydney, Australia later in the year.

The Nigerian ladies retained their aggressiveness against France to dictate the tempo and rally back from a set down to beat Mali at the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall, Belgrade, Serbian.

Having lost to China on Thursday, D’Tigress, who dusted France to keep their World Cup hopes alive, lost their first set 20-22. With the victory over Mali, the three-time African defending champions will be flying the continent’s flag in Sydney.

Just like they did against France on Friday, the Otis Hugley girls did just enough to rally back from a 2-point deficit in the first quarter to snatch a win and book their second consecutive World Cup ticket.

The second quarter saw a more purposeful and dominant D’Tigress crawl their way back into the game with a 22-13 points win to close the half 42-35. The team thereafter won the third quarter 22-9 to extend their lead.

D’Tigress came off the saddle slower in the fourth quarter, which saw Mali dominate them with 25-7 points — before another impressive 19-13 point finish in the same quarter to seal the win.

The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup holds in Sydney, Australia from September 22 to October 1, 2022. – With Agency reports