Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, Nigeria women’s national basketball team, suffered a 77–60 defeat to the South Korea women’s national basketball team at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifiers taking place in France.
The loss brought an end to D’Tigress’ six-game winning streak and was their first defeat in the qualifying tournament.
Nigeria went into the match with confidence after a strong victory over the Colombia women’s national basketball team earlier in the week. However, they struggled to cope with the Korean side despite being ranked higher in the world rankings.
The African champions, coached by Rena Wakama, failed to win any of the four quarters. They lost three quarters while the second quarter ended level.
Victoria Macaulay was Nigeria’s top scorer with 22 points and six rebounds. Ezinne Kalu provided six assists, while Murjanatu Musa added 10 points for the team.
D’Tigress began the game well and led for most of the first quarter. But South Korea finished strongly, scoring eight points in the closing minutes while Nigeria managed only one point, giving the Asians a 20–16 lead.
The second quarter was closely contested as both teams matched each other in intensity. However, South Korea gradually took control of the match, relying on accurate shooting from outside the arc. They ended the game with 14 successful three-pointers.
The Asian side pulled further ahead in the fourth quarter with a strong 14–2 run. Nigeria struggled to respond and scored just nine points in the final quarter as South Korea sealed the win.
The defeat was Nigeria’s first loss to South Korea in three meetings and ended the team’s six-match winning run.
D’Tigress will now aim to bounce back when they face the Philippines women’s national basketball team in their next group match on Saturday.
