Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, stormed into the semifinals of the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament on Thursday after overpowering Cameroon 83–47 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The emphatic win extends Nigeria’s unbeaten run on the continent to 27 games, a streak that dates back to 2015. It also brings them within reach of a record fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat no team has achieved — though Senegal shares the current record of four.
Cameroon made a fast start through Jessica Thomas and Maria Ewodo, opening a 4–0 lead, but the reigning MVP Amy Okonkwo got Nigeria on the scoreboard with a free throw. That kick-started the D’Tigress offense, which surged ahead with a dominant 21–9 first quarter.
Although the Indomitable Lionesses matched Nigeria point-for-point in the second quarter (20–20), they trailed 41–29 at halftime. The third quarter proved decisive, with the defending champions outscoring Cameroon 25–2 to effectively end the contest. Despite Cameroon edging the fourth quarter 16–14, it was not enough to alter the outcome.
Okonkwo led the scoring with 18 points in under 19 minutes, but the win was a full team effort — four players hit double digits and nearly every player with over 10 minutes of court time registered at least a basket.
Speaking after the win, forward Murjanatu Musa said:
“We played as a team, enjoying the game by doing what we do best, and this is the result. We feel great about making it to the semifinals again. We’ll try our best to make it to the finals. We know them and they know us. We just have to do our thing and see what happens in the end.”
Guard Ezinne Kalu added:
“We just needed to stick together and play Nigerian basketball. This is the definition of Nigerian basketball: fighting, throwing the first punch, setting the tone, and bringing the energy to win over our supporters and fans. We are super excited to move to the semifinals! It’s going to be a great game. Senegal is a great team, and I’m looking forward to playing them.”
Cameroon, bronze medalists in 2021, will now compete for fifth place — a potential one-step improvement from their 2023 showing.
Nigeria will face arch-rivals Senegal next, in what promises to be a classic semifinal clash.
