Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have been crowned champions of the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket after defeating Mali in a thrilling final that further cemented their legacy on the African continent.
The Rena Wakama-led side clinched the historic title on Sunday night at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, delivering a commanding performance that sealed their place in the record books.
With the victory, Nigeria became the first country to win five consecutive Women’s Afrobasket championships, an extraordinary achievement that underscores their decade-long dominance in African women’s basketball.
Remarkably, D’Tigress have now remained unbeaten in the tournament for ten years. The last time the team tasted defeat in the Afrobasket was on October 2, 2015, against Cameroon a loss that has since fueled an unrelenting reign.
Sunday’s final was a tale of two halves. Mali started strong, taking a 26–21 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Nigerian ladies responded with typical resilience, clawing their way back to level the scores at 41–41 by halftime.
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A fired-up D’Tigress came out swinging in the third quarter, asserting themselves on both ends of the floor and edging ahead 61–56 by the buzzer. In the final quarter, the team elevated their defensive intensity, limiting Mali to just eight points, and pulled away for a well-earned 14-point victory.
The triumph followed a hard-fought semi-final against arch-rivals Senegal, where D’Tigress were pushed to their limits and needed a spirited fourth-quarter surge to escape with a narrow win. That resilience would prove crucial again in the final, where they played with the poise and purpose of champions.
Having secured the title, Nigeria’s D’Tigress returned home to a warm reception on Monday, landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja aboard two chartered flights that carried both the players and team officials.
On ground to receive the victorious squad were representatives of the National Sports Commission, the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, members of the Association of Nigerian Women in Sports, and a number of enthusiastic supporters.
They returned not only with the championship trophy, but with a moment of unprecedented achievement one that has redefined the standards of excellence in African women’s basketball.
By defeating Mali 78–64 in the final, D’Tigress clinched their seventh AfroBasket title overall and extended their AfroBasket winning streak to 29 games, a streak that began in 2015 and has now spanned a full decade of unbroken success.
Their performance has drawn praise from across the country and beyond. Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, hailed the team’s achievement, describing them as an inspiration to millions of young girls across the nation. In her words, “You inspire the girl child.”