Coach of the female basketball team D’Tigress Rena Wakama has named the 12-women squad to represent the country in the 2024 Olympics games scheduled to begin on Friday in Paris France the City of Love.
Amy Okonkwo who won the Most Valuable Honours at the FIBA Afro Basket in 2023 was named as one of the key players for the Nigerian squad, her impressive performances have been a consistent act, she also impressed at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Antwerp.
The return of Ezinne Kalu return has strengthened the team’s backcourt, her excellent performances have been seen in the past with her impressive performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2018, Ezinne has been named the team’s captain for the tournament.
Her return has been welcomed by the team’s coach after she failed to represent the country in Kigali in 2023, also the momentum in her experience has been seen as what will motivate the younger teammates after being away for over three from the team.
Others Named in the team for the African champions are Elizabeth Balogun and Promise Amukamara, the combination of Elizabeth and Promise Upfront stems from their ability to score and dish out dimes respectively.
Also named in the team is Lauren Ebo, a 24-year-old, 6’4-foot-tall centre she had been with the team at the Olympic Games qualifiers in Belgium in February with outstanding performances.
To complete the 12-women squad, the coach named Nicole Enabosi, Murjanatu Musa, Ifunaya Okoro, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah, Blessing Ejiofor, Olaoluwatomi Taiwo, and Adebola Adeyeye.
After competing and contributing to the success of the team in Kigali and Rwanda the coach had dropped Adenike Olawuyi, Alimat Abiola, and Sarah Ogoke from the 12-women squad.
Also, missing from the team is the captain Sarah Ogoke, who has withdrawn from the tournament for personal reasons.
The D’Tigress will play Japan on Wednesday in their last warmup game before the start of the competition on Friday, the team had earlier arrived in Lille, France on Monday.
Before departing for France for the Olympic games opening, the team had played two warmup games with Garmany and Serbia which they lost 77-63 and 70-62 in Germany and Belgrade respectively.
