D’Tigress took a bold step to picking a ticket to the Olympics Qualifying Tournament 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 38-19 points 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, one assist and nine 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.
Head Coach, Otis Hughley, said the game against Mozambique gave the team the opportunity to play together as a team since their Afrobasket win.
He said: “We are focused on the bigger picture of picking the olympics ticket which is the ultimate target for us as a team.”
Hughley promised that the game against Mali in the semifinal will be different as they hope to take the pre-qualifiers one game at a time with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo the ultimate target.
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