🇳🇬 D’Tigress Eye Fifth Straight Afrobasket Title as Cameroon Clash Looms in Quarterfinal

 

Nigerian Basketball team members flaying their flag

Nigeria’s women’s basketball team gears up for a high-stakes battle against old foes Cameroon, with history and legacy on the line at the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket.

Zig Diaries Sports 

Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2025
Time: 9:00 WAT
Location: 📍Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Nigeria’s D’Tigress will face Cameroon on Thursday night in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket quarterfinals as they continue their push for an unprecedented fifth consecutive title.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress are set to resume their title defense at the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket with a crunch quarterfinal encounter against regional rivals Cameroon on Thursday night at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan.

Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. WAT.

The defending champions will enter the knockout phase well-rested after topping their group, while Cameroon sealed their place in the last eight with a dominant 85–64 win over Angola in Wednesday’s qualification match.

While Nigeria are widely tipped as favorites, they will be mindful of history — Cameroon remains the last team to defeat D’Tigress at the Afrobasket, having edged them 71–70 in a dramatic 2015 semifinal on home soil in Yaoundé.

Since that setback, D’Tigress have gone on an unbroken championship run, claiming four straight titles (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), and asserting continental dominance. A win on Thursday would keep Nigeria on track to become the first African nation — male or female — to clinch five consecutive Afrobasket titles.

But standing in their path is Cameroon’s explosive backcourt duo: Point Guard, Jessica Thomas, and Shooting Guard, Joelly Emmanuelle Claude Belleka, who are averaging 16 and 15 points per game, respectively. Their pace and precision will test Nigeria’s defensive fortitude.

Elsewhere in Thursday’s quarterfinals: unbeaten Uganda take on impressive debutants South Sudan, Mali face Mozambique, and hosts Ivory Coast lock horns with perennial heavyweights Senegal in what promises to be a raucous contest backed by a passionate home crowd.

🏷️️Tags: D’Tigress, FIBA Women’s Afrobasket 2025, Nigeria, Cameroon, Jessica Thomas, Joelly Belleka, Abidjan, Palais des Sports, Quarterfinals
#Afrobasket2025 #DTigress #NigeriaBasketball #ZigSports #FIBA #WomenInSports #Abidjan