Nigeria begin preparation with home-based

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has started preparation for the Women National Team, D’Tigress ahead the 22nd edition of the Afrobasket for Women with fourteen home-based players.

The team will have a two-day drilling exercise in Abuja with Coach Ayo Bakare leading the technical crew with Patrick Omo-Osagie and former Nigeria senior national team captain and forward, Mfon Udoka as assistances.

The fourteen basketball players were mainly from the three top clubs participating in the Zenith Bank Women Basketball League with former champion, First Bank basketball club of Lagos accounting for eight out of the fourteen playeers.

Zenith Bank Women Basketball League defending champion, First Deepwtaer basketball club has four of its players called up while Sunshine Angels basketball club of has two. First Bank BC has Grace Okonkwo (Centre), Oluchi Nzekwe (guard), White Patience (guard), Vera Ellong (guard), Magdalene (guard), Nike Dawodu (forward), Sandra Jamane (guard), ImaObong Akpan (guard), First Deepwater BC has Atosu Upe (guard), Kelechi Obasi (forward), Nkeci Akashili (guard), Blessing Emmanuel (guard), while the duo of Rebecca Iritei (guard) and Korede Sosanya (forward) are from Sunshine Angels basketball club of Akure.

Nigeria won the 19th and 20th edition of the African Cup of Nations in 2003 in Mozambique and 2005 in Nigeria just it has an All Africa Games gold (2003) in its kitty.

Head Coach, Bakare said the task before the team was to return the country to a winning ways and stamp its authority as a basketball nation to reckon with in Africa in particular and the world in general.