Earlier today, September 7, the D’Tigress of Nigeria will play for pride when they take on France in their final Group B game at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin.
D’Tigress have been eliminated after losing their first two games. They were beaten 99-81 by South Korea before Hungary beat them 71-67 on Saturday.
The defeat ended Nigeria’s hopes of advancing from the group and there is little more than pride at stake against France as they seek to finish their campaign with a win.
However, their early exit has also raised questions over the team’s preparation with limited involvement from head coach Rena Wakama in the build-up to the tournament.
Wakama said she only found out a few days before leaving the United States that she would be traveling to Berlin, having spent part of the preparation period with WNBA side Chicago Sky.
She came late, joining D’Tigress four days before their opening game. By then the team had already knocked off a good chunk of its pre-tournament program in the US, China and Spain.
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The last time Wakama was out of the team was in April when Nigeria Basketball Federation announced that she would miss the team’s tour of the United States due to her commitments with Chicago Sky.
Assistant coach Wani Muganguzi managed the trip and guided D’Tigress in warm-up matches against WNBA teams Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx.
Nigeria lost 89-63 to the Sparks but fared better in an 88-79 loss to the Lynx, with Muganguzi at the helm for both games.
D’Tigress then traveled to China for some more warm-up games and later continued their preparations in Spain, again without Wakama before arriving in Berlin.
The lack of continuity has been under more scrutiny after Nigeria’s poor start to the World Cup and there have been questions over the quality and age of the squad as well.
After the South Korea defeat, Wakama admitted it was a tough result and pointed to their opponents’ cohesion.
“When your shots aren’t falling, it’s tough. “I thought we had some really good looks in the first half, great looks. We got to the free throw line but we finished the game 12-23 from the free throw line. “We just couldn’t get it done,” she said.