Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress suffered two successive defeats in the build-up to the 2024 Olympics Games.
The D’Tigress, who have not recorded a win at the Olympics, are expected to make a huge mark in this forthcoming edition which will start on July 26 and end on August 11.
However, the reigning African champions led by coach Rena Wakama have proven not to be as sound as expected as they lost their first pre-Olympics friendly against Germany at the UBER Arena in Berlin on Friday. The clash ended in a 77-63 defeat.
Following the defeat, the D’Tigress flew from Germany to Belgrade, Serbia for the second friendly match ahead of the Olympics on Sunday, July 21.
The 10th-ranked Serbian team in the FIBA World ranking beat the African champions 70-62 as the Nigerian side prepared to face some of the toughest basketball women’s teams in the world.
During the friendly game against Serbia, the D’Tigress suffered a 6-point deficit in the first quarter as it ended 21-15 in favour of the home team.
The Nigerian team suffered a ten-point deficit into the half-time break as they lost the second quarter 18-14. They drew the third quarter 18-18 and then ended the last quarter with their first lead, 15-13.
The D’Tigress’ last friendly game before the 2024 Olympics is against Japan in Lille, France, on July 24. Afterwards, they will focus on qualifying from Group B which houses Canada, Australia, and host France.
