D’Tigress overpower Puerto Rico in first pre-Olympics friendly

D’TIGRESS posted a dominant performance on Friday night in Kortrijk, Belgium, defeating Puerto Rico 89-63 in the first of three friendly matches lined up by the Nigeria Basketball Federation to prepare the team for the Olympic Games.

The team, who landed in Belgium from Las Vegas, the United States of America earlier in the week, were off to a great start as they raced to a 13-9 lead in the first quarter.

The Nigerian ladies won all four quarters — 17-13, 31-16, 24-19, and 17-15 — to assert their superiority over the Puerto Ricans.

Amy Okonkwo, who recently attended a training camp with the Dallas Wings, contributed 14 points, six rebounds and had a 50% field goal percentage.

Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah played for 15 minutes and provided 14 points and the rebounds, making five of seven attempted shots.
Adaora Elonu added 14 points and two steals as the team closed out the game in emphatic fashion.

With all the available players getting playing time except Victoria Macaulay who watched from the bench, it was a dominant performance as all the players got at least two points.

Atonye Nyingifa had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists while Promise Amukamara scored eight points and made five steals.

The African champions next face world No.8 Serbia on Saturday at the same venue as their Tokyo 2020 Olympics preparations continue.