The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has announced that the national women’s team, D’Tigress, will participate in a pre-FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 tournament in Abuja from 18th to 20th July.
In a statement, the federation revealed that the tournament, which will feature Togo and another yet-to-be-named country, is designed to prepare D’Tigress for the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 championship, set to take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 24th July to 3rd August.
This will mark the first occasion D’Tigress has played in Nigeria since clinching five consecutive AfroBasket championships under the guidance of Nigerian WNBA coach Rena Wakama, who is once again leading a team predominantly composed of WNBA players.
The NBBF stated that during the three-nation tournament in July, the players will engage in women’s empowerment programmes alongside conducting basketball camps for emerging talents in the federal capital.
Mathew Ohio, Chief Executive Officer of El Carnaval, whose Mo Arena in Abuja will host the tournament, remarked: “After organising a welcome party for D’Tigress at the Olympic Games in Paris, we felt it was essential to also showcase them in Nigeria as the best team in Africa.”
Meanwhile, Ugo Udezue, Chairman of the NBBF’s Sponsorship Committee, stated on Saturday that the federation aims to create an enjoyable atmosphere for Nigerian fans to interact with D’Tigress.
Over the years, D’Tigress has consistently demonstrated their dominance on the continent, winning four consecutive AfroBasket titles (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023) and making history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals after defeating top-ranked teams such as Canada and Australia.
