Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, will face Cameroon tonight in the quarter-finals of the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Cameroon booked their place with an 85-64 victory over Angola on Wednesday, setting up a rematch with the defending champions. D’Tigress advanced after winning two of their group games, defeating Rwanda 92-45 and edging Mozambique 60-55. The Nigerians are chasing a record fifth consecutive Afrobasket crown, a feat no team has achieved in the competition’s history.
The clash revives memories of the 2015 semi-final when Cameroon stunned Nigeria to reach the final. Since that loss, D’Tigress have gone unbeaten in the tournament, lifting four consecutive titles. The team also impressed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they became the first African side to reach the quarter-finals of women’s basketball after beating both Australia and Canada in the group stage. Their Olympic run ended in a spirited defeat to the United States.
Head coach Rena Wakama, who led D’Tigress to their 2023 Afrobasket triumph just weeks after her appointment, was recently named Best Women’s Basketball Coach at Paris 2024 by the International Basketball Federation. As they take on Cameroon at the Palais des Sports de Treichville, Wakama and her players will be looking to extend their dominance and move a step closer to making basketball history for Nigeria.
