Nigeria rebounds as D’Tigress beat Turkey 74 to 68

Nigeria’s D’Tigres at FIBA Women World Cup in Tenerife

After the disappointing loss to Australia in their opening game of the on-going FIBA Women World Cup in Tenerife, Spain, Nigeria’s national women basketball team, D’Tigress yesterday defeated Turkey 74 to 68 points to resuscitate their hope of a second round ticket.

Nobody gave the Nigerian girls any chance of beating the Turkish team based on their FIBA rankings and the recent results of games involving the two teams.

Turkey is ranked seventh in the world while Nigeria occupies the 34th position.

Just last week, Turkey thrashed Nigeria in a pre-tournament friendly game before yesterday’s match.

However, the Nigerians showed they deserved better than their position on the books with the manner they dragged the more renowned Turks across the court, with Serah Ogoke the tormentor in chief.

Turkey led in the first quarter by 8-4 points, but once the D’Tigress got into their strides in the second quarter, they didn’t look back.

The Europeans didn’t go without a fight though, as they rallied towards the end of the last quarter, reduced the gap to as low as five points.
But the Nigerian girls upped the ante to record the win that now puts them within another win of a second round ticket.

Nigeria will meet Argentina in their next match on Tuesday, while Turkey will face Australia.

Today is rest day for the teams.

Source:

https://guardian.ng/sport/nigeria-rebounds-as-dtigress-beat-turkey-74-to-68/