Nigeria will face Mali in the final of the FIBA U18 Women’s AfroBasket 2024 on Saturday (today) at 4 pm at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Junior D’Tigress reached this stage by defeating Uganda 71-67 in a nail-biting semifinal clash at the same venue on Friday, with the narrow win also securing them a ticket for the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2025 in Czechia alongside Mali, who steamrolled Cameroon 103-45 in the other semifinal clash at the same venue earlier in the day.
Nigeria, alongside Rwanda, qualified for the knockout stages as the best third-place finishers, and they took their second chance at the title seriously, seeing off Egypt 66-51 in the quarters and repeating the feat against Uganda for a 71-67 victory.
Nigeria lost to Uganda 80-64 in the Group Phase, but the semis was a totally different ball match. Their transition offence in the third quarter saw them continue to dictate the pace, leading 52-41 after four minutes of play, and Uganda had to fight to bring back the game to 56-50 and revive hopes as the match headed to the final period with Negedu’s charges leading 61-54.
Former silver medallists Nigeria now turn their focus on defending champions Mali, who easily massacred Cameroon in the other semifinal matchup decided at the same venue earlier on Thursday, while Uganda will face off with debutants Cameroon for bronze.
After accomplishing her U-19 World Cup mission, Mali coach Diakite Sory looks to claim the scalp of Nigeria and claim the gold.
“We turn our focus to the final, where we can’t say we are guaranteed to win, but we will push for the title. Our biggest target was to qualify for the U19 Women’s World Cup, and with that settled, we hope to do better than in other competitions so that preparation starts now”, said Sory, who could be sorry after today’s final saif in a post-match interview with FIBA.com.
The Junior D’Tigress head into the final with two things weighing on their minds. Aside from seeking to replicate the all-conquering feat of their senior counterparts, D’Tigress, they will be looking to avenge Nigeria’s men’s defeat to fellow West Africans in the quarterfinal on Thursday.
