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NIGERIA’S D’TIGRESS TO FACE MALI AFTER MOZAMBIQUE WIN

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D’Tigress took a bold step to picking a ticket to the Olympics Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in 2020 after beating host- Mozambique 57-48 points to go top of group A.

The reigning African Champions dominated the first half 21-8, 17-11 to win 38-19points and will face Mali in the semifinals of the FIBA Africa pre-Olympics qualifiers.

Mozambique took the second half winning the third and fourth quarters by slim margins, 16-8, 13-11 but it was a case of too little too late as Nigeria stood their ground for a win.

The top performer for Nigeria was captain, Adaora Elonu who had 12 points, 1 assist and 9 rebounds.

Ezinne Kalu and Evelyn Akhator scored 12 points each as Akhator also emerged the highest rebounder for the team with a total of 12.

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Head Coach, Otis Hughley said the game against Mozambique gave the team the opportunity to play together as a team since their Afrobasket win.

“We are focused on the bigger picture of picking the Olympics ticket which is the ultimate target for us as a team.”

Otis promised that the game against Mali in the semifinal would be different as they hope to take the pre-qualifiers one game at a time with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo the ultimate target.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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