By Joe Apu
Nigeria’s D’ Tigress head coach, Sam Vincent has warmed his girls not to get carried away by their 58-54 victory over defending champions, Senegal as the task ahead is not over.
The American coach who is on his second time out with the Nigerian team called on the girls to keep their celebration low key as he is not taking the quarterfinal game against Cote d’ Ivoire for granted.
Sam Vincent stressed the need to keep celebrations to the barest minimum ahead of the crunchy quarter final tie against Cote d’Ivoire, who finished fourth in their group.
WNBA 2017 Draft pick, Evelyn Akhator posted a player-of-the-match performance with 15 points and 13 rebounds to inspire Nigeria to the important victory that took their count to five.
“We set a goal that we want to win. We came here for the gold. The more we keep playing, the more confidence we keep getting and the more trust we get amongst us.”
Ezinne Kalu and Adaora Elonu added 12 and 11 points respectively as Sam Vincent’s side recorded their fifth straight win at the biennial continental competition that has attracted Africa’s top 12 teams.
Nigeria will now face her neighbors Cote d’Ivoire in the Quarter-Finals with an eye at the Semi-Finals and the crown eventually.
Cameroon, despite her 69-35 loss to hosts Mali, alongside with Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia was tied on seven points but the latter was eliminated from the contest on head-to-head rule.
In a repeat of the 2015 Final, Cameroon faces another massive task when they face a wounded Senegal side that is looking for a record 13th title but most notably to defend their trophy.
In the other face off, unbeaten Angola would be up against Mozambique in the Lusophone derby with the latter looking to cause an upset.