Joe Apu
Reigning AfroBasket champions, Nigeria’s D’ Tigress will depart Lagos today for the defence of the 2019 AfroBasket Women championship holding at the newly constructed Dakar Arena in Senegal.
Team captain and Perfumerias Avenida Salamanca forward, Adaora Elonu, told Daily Sunsport after the team’s second test match last night, at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, that the team is ready to defend the title Nigeria won in 2017.
“Our preparation has been good and we’ve had scrimmages that have been helpful. The physicality we had to go through has helped us to recognise areas where we’re lacking. We understand that there are lots of physical players and we know we need to deal with that, but we need to be patient to get the job done.”
She insisted that D’Tigress will give their all and get the job done. “I’m very optimistic that as we start the championship, we’ll get our acts together and play better as a team. Pressure from the host nation is always there. We experienced it in Mali back in 2017, and it’s nothing new to us as we head to Senegal, despite having some new players in our squad.