Senegal and Nigeria made it known they are in for the gold and are definitely not going to be walk-overs at the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup currently taking place in Spain.
On Sunday, both teams made Africa proud and also made history while at it. The Senegal team became the first African country to win a pool game at the tournament beating Latvia 70 – 69.
“It’s a historic win and we’ve broken the curse. I’m very proud because we did it. We wanted it and the girls did everything.” Said the Senegal coach Cheikh Sarr in a post-game interview with FIBA.
What a #FIBAWWC game between ?? Senegal & Latvia ??!
Game Highlights ⤵ @Basketbols @FSBBOFFICIEL @FIBA_FR pic.twitter.com/PkBRzrf7HC
— FIBA (@FIBA) September 23, 2018
The Nigerian team subsequently kept up the tempo with a 74 – 68 win over Turkey despite almost blowing off a 17-point lead. This was their first ever win in the tournament.
Speaking with FIBA, Sarah Ogoke, who finished off the game as top-scorer with 22 points said, “It was great. I have played for a while with the National Team and I felt as though I personally had a point to prove. We finally got an opportunity to show what we can do with this historic win against Turkey.”
Hours later, #Nigeria followed suit, getting its first win ever in the tournament.
Nigeria almost blew a 17-point lead before holding off Turkey 74-68. This was Nigeria’s second appearance in the World Cup, going 0-5 in 2006. pic.twitter.com/ryX1xOaXxJ
— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) September 24, 2018
The Nigerians clearly couldn’t hide their excitement in the locker room after their historic victory!
Nigeria’s locker room following their #FIBAWWC victory over Turkey was pure comedy… ???? pic.twitter.com/geM3iBGJsn
— FIBA (@FIBA) September 24, 2018
Nigeria is set to play Argentina while Senegal will match up against China in their next games. The tournament is set to end on September 30. Wishing both teams the very best of luck!