Point guard Ezinne Kalu has admitted that Nigeria’s women’s national team struggled to find its rhythm after a long break, following Nigeria women’s national basketball team mixed start at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament 2026.
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Nigeria began the tournament strongly with a convincing 70–37 victory over the Colombia women’s national basketball team, but were later beaten 77–60 by the South Korea women’s national basketball team in their second game.
Speaking after the opening victory against Colombia, Kalu said it felt good to reunite with her teammates again after spending months playing in different leagues around the world since their triumph at the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Championship.
“It felt really good to regroup and play with the team again after a long break,” Kalu said.
The experienced guard explained that the team initially struggled with chemistry during the first half of the game against Colombia, committing several errors due to a lack of synergy.
“We had a shaky start and made a lot of mistakes because we hadn’t played together for a while,” she added.
However, Kalu credited the coaching staff for making key adjustments during halftime that helped the team regain control of the game.
“The coach made some changes during the break and we were able to improve in the second half,” she noted.
Despite the later defeat to Korea, Kalu believes the team will continue to grow stronger as the tournament progresses.
“We’re already looking forward to the next game. The more we play together, the better we will get,” she said.
The point guard remains confident that D’Tigress can bounce back and improve their performance as they continue their campaign in the World Cup qualifying tournament.
