Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have stormed into the semifinals of the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket after a dominant 83-47 win over Cameroon, keeping their title defence firmly on track.
With this impressive result, D’Tigress have now extended their unbeaten streak in African competitions to 27 matches – a remarkable run that dates back to 2015. They are now within touching distance of a fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat only Senegal has equalled in the tournament’s history.
Cameroon made a strong start through Jessica Thomas and Maria Ewodo, who opened up a quick 4-0 lead. But their early momentum didn’t last. Nigeria’s star forward and reigning tournament MVP, Amy Okonkwo, put the team on the scoreboard with a free throw, signalling the beginning of Nigeria’s control over the match.
Once Elizabeth Balogun hit a jump shot to put Nigeria ahead 5-4, Coach Rena Wakama’s squad didn’t look back. They closed out the first quarter on an 8-0 scoring run, ending it at 21-9 in Nigeria’s favour.
Cameroon made some tactical adjustments and matched Nigeria point-for-point in the second quarter, but the damage from the opening period left them trailing 41-29 at the break.
The third quarter was where the real difference showed. D’Tigress went on a blistering 25-2 run, completely overwhelming Cameroon and effectively putting the result beyond doubt. Though Cameroon edged the fourth quarter 16-14, it was little more than consolation.
Okonkwo finished with 18 points in under 19 minutes on court, but the win was a collective effort. Nearly every Nigerian player who saw more than 10 minutes of action got on the scoresheet, with four players hitting double figures.
While Nigeria continue their record-breaking campaign and set sights on yet another AfroBasket title, Cameroon—who last earned silver in the tournament—will now compete for fifth place. A fifth-place finish would be a slight improvement from their sixth-place showing in 2023.
After the match, Nigerian forward Murjanatu Musa spoke about the team’s spirit: “We played as a team, enjoying the game by doing what we do best, and this is the result. We feel great about making it to the semifinals again. We’ll try our best to make it to the finals. We know them and they know us. We just have to do our thing and see what happens in the end.”
Guard Ezinne Kalu added “We just needed to stick together and play Nigerian basketball. This is the definition of Nigerian basketball: fighting, throwing the first punch, setting the tone, and bringing the energy to win over our supporters and fans. We are super excited to move to the semifinals! It’s going to be a great game. Senegal is a great team, and I’m looking forward to playing them.”
D’Tigress will now turn their attention to a mouth-watering semifinal clash with Senegal – a team with whom they share a long-standing basketball rivalry.
