Nigeria’s female basketball national team, D’Tigress’ coach, Rena Wakama has fingered ‘just two days of preparation’ as the biggest problem her side is facing at the ongoing FIBA Women’s World Cup qualification tournament in France.
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Sports247 reports that D’Tigress suffered their second loss of the competition, as they fell to the host country, France, on Sunday, but they still have a game left to play.
While many critics have blamed the team’s second loss on fatigue, Wakama inferred that her squad would have done better had they been together longer in camp.
Just as it was in their loss to South Korea last week, D’Tigress struggled for rhythm on Sunday and eventually fell 93-86 to France, who recovered when the game was put on hold for over 15 minutes, just 49 seconds to the last buzz.
Before then, France outplayed D’Tigress 29-21 in the first quarter, took the second 28-24, to enter half-time ahead 57-45 and, though Nigeria won the third quarter 21-15, the host stormed back to take the fourth 21-20.
Wakama theorized, “Of all the teams here, we only had two days of preparation before playing. Some of my players are not in season right now, so it takes time to regain rhythm and reconnect with teammates.
“Those teams are hard to defend when they’re driving past you and knocking down threes. Credit to my team for sticking with it. Leadership shouldn’t always come from the coaches; it has to come from within.”
However, the award winning tactician ended with some positives, as she took the second defeat as a learning curve that would be useful at the FIBA Women’s World Cup later this year.
“That’s what happens when you face respectable teams. It’s another lesson for us, a little bit of growing pains. But it takes a lot of resilience and poise to fight back the way we did, so huge credit to my team,” Wakama posited.
Sports247 reports further that France, who are rated third in the world, rolled in a more coordinated flow than the Nigerians, who are eighth, with the hosts also better in shooting, blocks, rebounds and assists.
Sunday’s result took France top of the group table with eight points from four straight wins, while Nigeria’s next opponent, Germany are second on seven points from three wins and a loss with 330-271 match points.
South Korea moved to third also with seven points from three wins and a loss with a total of 313-262 match points, while Nigeria drop to fourth with six points from two victories and two defeats, on 317-291 match points.
D’Tigress will now chase a consolatory win over 12th ranked Germany in their last group match on Tuesday, while Columbia (5th with 194-318 match points) face Philippines (6th with 304-434 match points).
