FIBA Africa's U-16 Women’s Championship debutants, Nigeria's female U-16 national team were beaten by three-time champions, Mali 57-46 in the final of the championship on Sunday.
Nigeria, who were among the wild card entry for this year's championship went unbeaten in the tournament until the final game, and they, alongside the champions, Mali will be representing the continent at the 2017 FIBA Under-17 World Championship after beating Mozambique 54-51 an the semi final stage.
The coach Adeka Daudu's finished the tournament with just 9 players following the disqualification of three of her girls earlier in the championship due to age discrepancies.
Nevertheless, Team Nigeria put the initial setback aside and won all their group games- beating three-time runners-up Egypt 54- 52 in their opening match before silencing the home crowd with a 60-53 win over Madagascar, and complete their winning streak with a 42-26 spanking over Morocco in their final group game.
In the knockout stages, the team continued with their impressive form defeating Tunisia 55-44 leading to a hard fought 54-51 victory over Mozambique in the semi-final before losing the final to Mali.
Chinelo Ibeh led all scorers with 16 points while adding 6 rebounds and Monica Ezekiel came just short of a double double with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Mariam Traore finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Malians.
Top player for Nigeria at the competition was Raptors Basketball Academy’s Chinelo Ibeh who finished the tournament with 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Nigeria and Mali will now represent Africa at the 2016 FIBA Women’s U-17 World Championship. teamnigeriabasketball
Nigeria Qualifies For FIBA U-17 World Championship Despite Loss To Mali
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