Nigeria’s female basketball national team, D’Tigress’ coach, Rena Wakama is staying upbeat about their chances of excelling at this year’s FIBA Women’s World Cup, despite their recent run of three defeats five matches.
READ ALSO: International Friendlies: Chelle invites Ndidi, Iwobi, Lookman, 20 others for Iran and Jordan
Sports247 reports that D’Tigress suffered defeats to South Korea, France and Germany at the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualification tournament in Lyon, but Wakama stressed that it was a learning curve and preparation point for them.
She added that the tournament helped her identify areas she and her players must work on between now and September, in order to be fully ready for the forthcoming global championship billed to take place in Berlin, Germany.
D’Tigress had already qualified automatically after winning their fifth straight African title last year and Wakama said they only went to the qualification tournament in Lyon to begin their build-up for the Mundial.
The award-winning gaffer also stated that she was not in any way disappointed with her team’s overall performance at the tournament, where D’Tigress suffered a 81-73 defeat to Germany in their final game on Tuesday.
The seven-time African Champions finished the tournament with two wins and three defeats at Villeurbanne Sports Arena, where Wakama enthused that many lessons have been learnt, which will help her team do better in Germany.
“We were competitive throughout the tournament and learnt, especially with the matches we lost. Going to the World Cup, we have to start games better and make decisions on the court in critical moments.
“So, we will go back and analyse the games more and focus more on our energy,” said Wakama, who insisted she remains proud of her players, as the tournament gave them an early preparation towards the FIBA World Cup in September.
