The 9 Nigerian girls at the FIBA Africa U16 championship brought their World Championship Fantasy to reality as they cruised to an hard fought 54-51 points victory over Mozambique in the Semi finals of the African U16 Women championship in Madagascar.
Nigeria started out slowly, trailing 5 -16 in the 1st quarter, but shook off the tension and powered back with 20-8 points run in the 2nd quarter to take a 25-24 lead to the half time break. The 3rd quarter had both teams neck to neck, but Nigeria still managed a 1 point lead (36-35) going into the final quarter after both sides scored 11 points apiece.
Despite the superior rebounding from Mozambique 52-38 over Nigeria in the game. Nigeria pulled through, outscoring Mozambique 12 -4 from inside the paint and shooting 54 per cent from free throw line compared to Mozambique who managed just 46 per cent.
Chinelo Lucy Ibeh and Isioma Vannessa Oduah led the floor with 16 points apiece, while Ene Adams did massive job of picking 14 rebounds despite scoring just 2 points, and Rita James adding 9 points to the spoils.
With the win, Nigeria has booked a place in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship and a final show down against triple defending champions, Mali, on Sunday.
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