Nigeria’s D’Tigress suffer second Pre-Olympics defeat to Serbia

Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, suffered another defeat, losing by an 8-point margin, 70-62, in their second pre-Olympics friendly to Serbia on Sunday, July 21.

The Nigerian team coached by  Rena Wakama, began the first quarter of the match with passion hoping to do well after losing their first pre-Olympics clash by a 14-point margin, 77-63, against Germany. However, they trailed behind with a 6-point deficit, 21-15.

The second quarter witnessed an increased gap as Serbia maintained their lead, extending it to a 10-point margin of 39-29 against D’Tigress.

In the third quarter Serbia stamped their authority with a 10-point margin, 55-45, forcing D’Tigress to scramble for a comeback in the fourth quarter.

Nigeria’s perseverance to reduce the deficit nearly laid off during the fourth quarter, but Serbia pulled through to maintain their lead and secure the victory.

Nigeria will play their last friendly against Japan on Wednesday, July 24.

D’Tigress’ loss to Serbia is their second in a row.

Ahead of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, D’Tigress will make their third appearance at the games after debuting at Athens 2004 and qualifying for Tokyo 2020.

At both tournaments, Nigeria failed to go beyond the group stages.