Nigeria Sports Arena

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has appointed Otis Hughley as an immediate replacement for Sam Vincent who was fired as Head Coach of the senior women’s basketball team on Thursday. The appointment of the former NBA Coach was finalised after the NBBF leadership approved his program for the D’Tigress’ participation at the World Cup in Spain. NBBF President, Engineer Musa Kida said the leadership of the federation settled for Hughley as it became apparent that he is the “most immediate available option.” Kida emphasized that since Sam Vincent was not sacked because of poor results but that based on issues surrounding conflicting professional engagements, it was wise to replace him with a coach that will be readily available. “We needed to take a proactive step in the interest of the team who are preparing for the World Cup. We needed to fill the vacuum immediately and continue our preparation for Spain. “For many, parting ways with Vincent at this time was not a good de...

D’Tigress have been grouped alongside Turkey, Argentina and Australia for the 2018 FIBA women’s world cup taking place in Tenerife, Spain. At a brief ceremony held on Tuesday at the Teatro Leal, San Cristobal de la Laguna, Spain, Nigeria was drawn in group B for the biggest women basketball tournament coming up between 22 nd  and 30 th  of September, 2018. The team will be hoping to surpass their 2006 outing where they lost all their group games against China, Russia and United States before suffering another defeat in the classification game against Senegal to finish 16th. Reacting to the draws,Dallas Wings player and one of the most influential Nigerians in the WNBA, Evelyn Akhator said, “I think it will be a great outing for us being drawn alongside Australia, Turkey and Argentina. I have watched the Turkish national team play and I am confident that we will surmount them. On the other hand Australia and Argentina, we will give a good fight with all hopes of winning...

D’Tigress camp received an August visitor on Sunday when Nigeria music sensation, Tiwa Savage paid an unscheduled visit to the team at their Protea Hotel abode. The visit of the musician which was facilitated by a board member and athletes' representative of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Ejike Ugboaja was part of a welfare package put in place by the new NBBF board to motivate the team and aid their bonding ahead of the 2017 FIBA Afrobasket Tournament taking place in Mali. It was unprecedented as it was the first time in the history of any basketball national team that a celebrity paid a visit to the team before an international competition. Speaking during her visit, the Nigerian music star who is presently signed to Mavin Records took time to encourage the team to remain focused ahead of their FIBA assignment as they perfect plans to storm Mali in style and win the tournament. “I am so elated that I had the opportunity to come here and associate with a team that h...

The Technical Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation has announced that the Women's senior National team D'Tigress will be in close camping for the FIBA Afrobasket Women's Championship until their departure on the 16th of August 2017. This became imperative following the request by the team’s Technical crew led by Sam Vincent with just few days to start of the championship which starts on the 18th. The decision became imperative following their third friendly against Raptors Men Basketball Club on Saturday in which they lost by 78points to 53 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos. According to the federation, the decision is to beef up preparations and perfect their technical and tactical plans for the championship after some lapses were noticed at the end of their third game. Speaking on behalf of the federation, the Vice President, Babs Oguande explained that, “This decision is in the best interest of all parties involved. The team is now at...

Nigeria's D’Tigress lost to Raptors Basketball club of Lagos 51-71 in their first test match ahead of the 2017 Afrobasket Women competition. The game played Wednesday evening inside the Indoor Sports Hall of the Lagos National stadium was witnessed by Vice President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Babs Oguande and two board members, Col Samuel Ahmedu (rtd) and Felix Awogu including an impressive turnout of fans. The Division 1 side led by Charles Ibeziako led with 10 points in the opening minutes of the 1st quarter, a prelude to the loss by the national team handled on the night by Peter Ahmedu. Despite making a steady recovery into the game, it was a case of too little too late as the Senior Women's National Team trailed by 25points to 14 at the end the 1st quarter. The second quarter, saw a D’Tigress team with a high level of metal alertness, defensive discipline and good attacking moves as they took the initiative from the Raptors team who were desperate to make...

After a dominant 20 points win in the 1st leg on Thursday in Abidjan, the Nigerian Female national team sealed qualification for the 2015 Afrobasket Women/ All African Games later this year with an emphatic 88-43 points win over Cote d’ivoire in the 2nd round match at the Palais du Sport in Abidjan. The D’Tigress was powered  to victory by Uju Ugoka’s 14 points, with captain Helen Ogunjimi and Primeiro Agosto point guard, Sarah Ogoke adding 13 points each in an impressive display on the night that saw the D’Tigress claw past the female Elephants with ease. The Scott Nnaji lead Ladies took charge from the jump ball, taking a 10 points lead in the opening 10 minutes (25-15), then extended their lead to 47-27 at half time . D’Tigress ended any hopes of a comeback for the female Elephants of Cote D’ivoire in the 3rd quarter outscoring them 26-9 to pull up an unassailable 71-36 points lead going into the 4th quarter. Closing the deal with a 1...