Nigeria’s D’Tigress have qualified for the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup slated for Sydney, Australia later in the year.
This is after they defeated Mali 73-69 on Sunday afternoon.
The Nigerian ladies retained their aggressive approach seen against France and half-court game at key moments to dictate the tempo to rally back from a set down to beat Mali at the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall, Belgrade, Serbian on Sunday afternoon.
The three-time African defending champions, who will fly the continent’s flag in Sydney, lost their first set 20-22.
Just like they did against France on Friday, the Otis Hugley girls did just enough to rally back from a 2 points deficit in the first quarter to snatch a win and book their second consecutive World Cup outing.
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 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 19-13pts finish in the 4th quarter to seal the win.
Having lost to China on Thursday, D’Tigress beat France to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup will take place in Sydney, Australia between September 22 to October 1, 2022.
