Nigeria’s U-19 female basketball team began their quest at the 2025 FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup on a fine note, with ground-breaking success, taking down highly rated, China to win their opening group game, in Brno, Czechia.
The JD’Tigress squeezed out their Chinese counterparts, 93-88, in a thriller to get off to the perfect start, while also defying pre-tournament expectations that they might even struggle to get a win on the board.
The Nigerian girls dropped the first quarter by a slim 2 points and levelled at half time, with the scoreboard reading 38-all –16-18, 22-20.
The third quarter saw a major shift in dominance as the girls from the energetic green and royal white nation slammed a healthy 7 point lead going into the final quarter, 23-16.
The Junior D’Tigresses found the scoring most fluid in the final quarter, consolidating their victory. Taking the quarter 32-28.
Nora Ezike who proved to be the difference-maker as she finished with a stimulating 25 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals in her first ever game wearing her nation’s jersey was excited after the game..
“I am so excited as it’s an honour to represent my country and it’s so exciting to get this first win,” Ezike said.
“The key to the game was sticking to what we had practiced and what we said we were going to do heading into the game – as well as never giving up.
