Nigeria’s J’Tigress have punched their way into the semifinals of the 2024 Afrobasket U-18 Women’s Championship in Pretoria, South Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the J’Tigress brushed aside their female counterparts from North Africa 66-51 on Wednesday night. Nigeria won the first quarter 24-13 and maintained the lead as the teams went on halftime, with scores 37-23 for J’Tigress. Egypt’s efforts to get back into the game failed until the buzzer.
Meanwhile, Mali sent Rwanda packing in the quarterfinals.
Rwanda’s journey in the women’s Africa championship came to a shocking end as it stumbled at the University of Pretoria.
Mali won the first two quarters 19-11 and 25-15, respectively, to lead the game with 44-26 at the break.
They continued from where they stopped in the half to dominate the second half, the third quarter, 21-20, and the final quarter, 21-11, to successfully progress to the semifinals.
Rwanda’s Mama Sidiki Doumbia led the scores for Mali with 21 points, while Oumou Koumare and Maimouna Traore added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Despite the loss, Brigitte Nibishaka still proved her worth, scoring 16 points while Vanessa Camara added 14 points.
The Nigerian girls will face Uganda in the second semi-final game on Friday, while Cameroon and Mali will take on each other in the other game.
(NAN)
