TheCable

Nigeria’s D’Tigress beat Mali 73-69 on Sunday afternoon to qualify for the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup slated for Sydney, Australia later in the year.

The Nigerian ladies retained their aggressiveness against France to dictate the tempo and rally back from a set down to beat Mali at the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall, Belgrade, Serbian.

The three-time African defending champions, who will be flying the continent’s flag in Sydney, lost their first set 20-22.

Just like they did against France on Friday, the Otis Hugley girls did just enough to rally back from a 2-point deficit in the first quarter to snatch a win and book their second consecutive World Cup ticket.

🇳🇬 Nigeria flying to Sydney soon 🛫

The @DtigressNG proved to be the Queens of Africa again by beating Mali to qualify to the #FIBAWWC 🐯 pic.twitter.com/aeCguhacUV

— FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWWC) February 13, 2022

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The second quarter saw a more purposeful and dominant D’Tigress crawl their way back into the game with a 22-13 points win to close the half 42-35.

The team thereafter won the third quarter 22-9 to extend their lead.

D’Tigress came off the saddle slower in the fourth quarter, which saw Mali dominate them with 25-7 points — before another impressive 19-13 point finish in the same quarter to seal the win.

Having lost to China on Thursday, D’Tigress had defeated France to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup will take place in Sydney, Australia between September 22 to October 1, 2022.