Nigeria Dominate Rwanda 92-45 to Begin AfroBasket Women 2025 Title Defense in Ruthless Fashion

Nigeria Dominate Rwanda 92-45 to Begin AfroBasket Women 2025 Title Defense in Ruthless Fashion

Women’s Afrobasket defending champions Nigeria got their campaign off to a flying start inside the Palais des Sports Treichville as they easily went past in a 92-45 win over Rwanda. Elizabeth Balogun who eventually finished the game with the most points got the game going with the first two points and despite the early back and forth in the opening quarter, the defending champions eventually grew into the game and never seemed to look back afterwards. The first quarter ended with a 17- 8 points margin as turnovers were recorded from both teams with Nigeria having an edge thanks to the quality of personnel on display.

The team ranked highest by FIBA AFRICA in the power rankings before the tournament tipped off showed why they own the tag and continued their dominance, scoring more points than the first quarter. The commanding first half display saw the Rena Wakama-led team go into the break leading by 20 points. A 25th win in a row was never in doubt especially as the fight back from the East Africans was not in any way visible, leaving the West Africans winning the game by a 47-point margin. 

Five Nigerians finished with a score of double digits with Elizabeth Balogun leading the pack, finishing with a game high 18 points, 2 assists and 4 rebounds while Victoria Macaulay followed closely with 13 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She admitted that communication must improve going forward.

it’s been our toughest game as a team together for the first time in a while and we have to work more on our communication and talk up more defense amongst ourselves.”

2023 MVP Amy Okonkwo registered 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Muranatu Musa and Ifunanya Okoro registered 12 and 11 points respectively. Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah was really big in the paint for Nigeria as she registered 9 rebounds with 8 being defensive rebounds.

Rwanda’s Bella Mureketeta was good for her side especially in defense but finished with seven points, Destiney Philoxey finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds, taking the top performers tag for the Rwandans.

Nigeria's bench was solid as they outscored Rwanda;s bench, scoring 37 points as against 13 and the team also capitalised on points from turnovers made by Rwanda, registering 25 points from such moves.

Group winners will advance directly to the quarter-finals while teams that finish second and third in each group will play in a qualification round to determine the remaining quarter-finalists. The competition also serves as a qualifier for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 in Germany with the tournament winners securing an automatic spot while the remaining three teams in the last four will play in FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournaments next year.

One of Nigeria’s stand out performers today, forward Murjanatu Musa said afterwards that they had expected a tough tie before the game.

"We expected a tough match against Rwanda as they are a good side. I don't know what happened to them but it was a good first win for us; it gives us the energy to keep working for those victories. Despite the win, there's a need to tighten our defense in the coming matches."

Ezinne Kalu also hopes that the team can go on to fix their mistakes in the coming games.

”We have to fix our games, turn up and play the Nigeria basketball system while we get ready for Mozambique.”

The Nigeria team will hope to extend their unbeaten run on Monday July 28 when they square up against familiar foes Mozambique.