Wakama Urges D’Tigress To Shake Off Loss To South Korea

Head coach of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, Rena Wakama, has urged the Nigeria women’s national basketball team, popularly known as D’Tigress, to quickly put behind them their 77–60 defeat to South Korea women’s national basketball team.

The loss, recorded on Thursday, marked the first time Nigeria’s senior women’s team has been beaten by South Korea in international competition.

Nigeria remained competitive in the opening half of the match, trailing narrowly 36–32 after the first two quarters. However, the team struggled to maintain the pace in the second half as South Korea pulled away in the third and fourth quarters.

Victoria Macaulay led Nigeria’s effort with 22 points and six rebounds, following her Most Valuable Player performance in the team’s opening victory over Colombia women’s national basketball team.

Speaking after the game, Wakama said the team must quickly regroup and focus on their next fixture against the Philippines women’s national basketball team at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Lyon, France.

She noted that while the defeat was disappointing, it also provided valuable lessons for the team as they prepare for upcoming matches.

“Korea is a great team. We struggled with our shooting and had 22 turnovers, which is not typical of our game,” Wakama said.

“Our mentality is strong, and we will not overreact to the loss. We will learn from it and prepare better for the next game,” she added.

Wakama also acknowledged South Korea’s defensive intensity, saying their physical approach disrupted Nigeria’s passing lanes and forced several turnovers.

“They did a great job defensively. Credit to them for the way they played,” she said.

South Korea are seeking to secure one of the two remaining tickets to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup through the round-robin qualifying tournament.

Nigeria and Germany women’s national basketball team have already qualified for the tournament, scheduled to take place in September in Berlin, Germany. Both teams are participating in the qualifiers mainly as preparation for the global competition.

The qualification tournaments are being staged simultaneously in four countries — France, Turkey, Puerto Rico and China — where teams are competing for the remaining spots at the World Cup.

D’Tigress will next face the Philippines on Saturday before concluding their schedule against France women’s national basketball team and Germany.