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From Joe Apu, Abidjan
Nigeria’s Junior D’Tigress have made a huge statement at the ongoing championship, thrashing Cameroon 75-45 in Tuesday’s quarter-final clash to book their place in the semi-finals.
It was a sweet revenge mission accomplished for Coach Peter Akindele’s side, who had suffered a heartbreaking 75-74 overtime defeat to the same Cameroonian side in their only previous meeting during the group stage.
This time, there was no drama, no overtime — just a clinical, ruthless performance from start to finish.
Nigeria set the tone from the opening whistle, racing to a commanding 20-8 lead in the first quarter. They were far from done, adding a devastating 28-12 second quarter to walk into the dressing room at halftime with a massive 48-20 advantage. By that point, the writing was already on the wall for the Cameroonians.
To their credit, Cameroon did not fold quietly. They came out fighting in the third quarter, edging Nigeria 19-15 in a bid to claw their way back into contention. But Akindele’s ladies would not be denied. Nigeria clamped down defensively in the final quarter, closing out the game 12-6 to complete a 75-45 statement victory.
All eyes were on Cameroon’s rising star Eveline Toyounon coming into the game. The youngster had been in red-hot form, dropping 24 points in the first meeting with Nigeria and following up with 26 against Senegal, and had openly declared her ambition to be named tournament MVP.
But Nigeria’s technical crew had other plans. Coach Akindele set out a clear instruction to deny Toyounon the ball at all costs and it worked to perfection. The Cameroonian star was restricted to a mere 8 points, though she still contributed 11 rebounds and 14 assists for an efficiency rating of 12.
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Nigeria’s win was a team effort. Zainab Adelaja was outstanding, scoring for her side with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists for a game-high efficiency rating of 20. She was well backed by Favour Anari, who chipped in 16 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
Speaking after the game, a delighted Coach Peter Akindele credited his technical team’s tactical switch-up for the emphatic win.
“We did things differently this time around,” the gaffer said, pointing to the change in approach as the key to their dominant quarter-final showing.
With Nigeria now safely through to the last four once again, Akindele says his focus has already shifted to preparing his troops for the tougher test that awaits in the semi-finals.
On the other side, Cameroon’s Marie Messina was left to rue her team’s sluggish start.
“We started slowly and that really affected us in the rest of the game,” she admitted.
Cameroon, who had earlier swept Group C with a perfect 3-0 record — including wins over Senegal (61-30) and Tunisia (53-41) — bow out of the championship at the quarter-final stage.
