By Joe Apu
Nigeria’s D’Tigress will today attempt to pick a third straight Afrobasket title when they face stubborn rivals Mali in the final of the 27th edition of the Women’s Afrobasket in Yaounde.
Mali, the 2007 African champions scrapped a narrow 52-51 win over host Cameroon and will today focus on stopping the Nigeria women that stopped Senegal 73-63 and are yet to drop a game since 2017.
Both sides faced off in the Third-placed playoff of the Women’s AfroBasket 20211 in Bamako with Mali overpowering Nigeria 71-62.
Nigeria have beaten Mali in their last two Women’s AfroBasket meetings in 2017 and 2019
Mali’s forward Kadidia Maiga is unperturbed by the caliber of opponent that awaits them stating: “All teams are equal and we trust in our chances at the final,” she told FIBA.basketball.
Mali are the third highest scoring side averaging 75.8 points and they top the rebounding chart with 54.5 boards per game.
Guard Djeneba Ndiaye ranks second on the scoring log with 16.8 points.
A contender for the MVP title, center Mariam Coulibaly has been a threat both on offense and defense, posting 11.3 points and picking up nine rebounds, the second best in the tournament.
Nigeria are playing with instinctive fluency and the sort of flair that leaves diehards spellbound.