Nigeria’s D’Tigress defeated a stubborn Mali Women’s basketball team on Sunday evening 78-64 to be crowned champions of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket, becoming the first team to win the tournament five times in a row.
D’Tigress have now won a total of seven Women’s Afrobasket titles (2003 and 2005), winning five consecutive titles in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
The 78-64 win at the Palais des Sports Treichville in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire was one of Nigeria’s most challenging in the competition. It also extends their winning streak to 29-0, dating back to the third-place game of the 2015 competition in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
The victory also means that D’Tigress have booked an automatic ticket for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Mali, South Sudan and Senegal are the other African representatives.
Prior to Sunday’s final, Nigeria and Mali have faced off six times since 2011, with both teams win three games each.
Although Nigeria started slowly in the first quarter, which the Malians edged by 21-26, D’Tigress put up a dominant performance for the next three quarters, winning 20-15, 20-15, 17-8 to finish the epic game with a 14-point victory.
Amy Okonkwo, Ezinne Kalu, and Victoria Macaulay amassed 49 points between them, over half of Nigeria’s 78 points.
Okonkwo was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket, joining an elite group of players with two MVP awards. The others are Nigeria’s Mfon Udoka (2003 and 2005), Senegal’s Aya Traore (2009 and 2015), and Angola’s Nacissela Mauricio (2011 and 2013).
D’Tigress coach Rena Wakama also made history by becoming the first woman to win consecutive AfroBasket titles. She became the first woman to win the title in 2023.
South Sudan won the bronze medal with a famous 66-65 win over 11-time champions Senegal in the third-place match. They are the first debutant team to win a Women’s AfroBasket medal.
