Nigeria Rebounds as D’Tigress Beat Turkey 74 to 68

Nigeria’s D’Tigress recorded their first ever win at the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Tenerife Spain defeating Turkey 74-68 in a Group B encounter at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife court on Sunday, after the disappointing loss 86-68  to Australia in their opening game.

The D’Tigress who had lost 89-51 to Turkey in a warm-up game enroute the tournament, trailed 15-7 in the first quarter to the Turks but bounced back strongly to win the second quarter 22-17.
Otis Hughley’s girls extended their lead from five in the second quarter to 13 to win 23-10 before losing 22-26 in the fourth quarter.
Celta de Vigo forward, Sarah Ogoke the star for Nigeria as she accounted for 22 points, four rebounds, three assist and two blocks.

While Former Dallas Wings forward Evelyn Akhator bagged a double racking in 13 points and ten rebounds.
Turkey is ranked seventh in the world while Nigeria occupies the 34th position.
Just last week, Turkey thrashed Nigeria in a pre-tournament friendly game before yesterday’s match.

However, the Nigerians showed they deserved better than their position on the books with the manner they dragged the more renowned Turks across the court, with Serah Ogoke the tormentor in chief.
Turkey led in the first quarter by 8-4 points, but once the D’Tigress got into their strides in the second quarter, they didn’t look back.

The Europeans didn’t go without a fight though, as they rallied towards the end of the last quarter, reduced the gap to as low as five points.
But the Nigerian girls upped the ante to record the win that now puts them within another win of a second round ticket.
Nigeria will meet Argentina in their next match on Tuesday, while Turkey will face Australia.

September 24, 2018