The Nigeria women’s national basketball team, popularly known as D’Tigress, suffered a 93–86 defeat to the France women’s national basketball team in the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
The match was played at the Astroballe Arena in Lyon, where the hosts built a commanding early lead before Nigeria mounted a spirited comeback in the second half.
Despite the defeat, D’Tigress had already secured qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup after winning the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 tournament.
France Dominates Early
France started strongly and quickly asserted control.
A 12–0 scoring run helped Les Bleues establish a 29–21 lead in the first quarter.
The hosts continued their offensive momentum in the second period, outscoring Nigeria 28–24 to head into halftime with a 57–45 advantage.
At one point, France extended their lead to 20 points, putting Nigeria under heavy pressure.
D’Tigress Rally After the Break
Nigeria responded with determination in the third quarter.
D’Tigress outscored France 21–15, reducing the deficit to 72–66 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth period turned into a tightly contested battle, but France maintained their composure, narrowly edging the quarter 21–20 to secure the win.
Free Throws Prove the Difference
One of the decisive factors in the game was efficiency at the free-throw line.
France converted 22 of 28 attempts (78.6%), while Nigeria made 17 of 28 (60.7%).
Although overall shooting percentages were relatively close, France at 47% (32/68) and Nigeria at 44% (31/70), the hosts also held an edge from beyond the arc, shooting 40.7% from three-point range compared to Nigeria’s 30.4%.
France also maintained control of the game throughout, with no lead changes recorded.
Salaün and Balogun Lead Their Teams
French forward Janelle Salaün delivered an outstanding performance, scoring 19 points to earn TCL Player of the Game honors.
For Nigeria, Elizabeth Balogun led the scoring with 18 points, producing one of her strongest displays of the tournament.
Record Now 2–2 in the Tournament
The defeat leaves Nigeria with a 2–2 record in the qualifying tournament.
D’Tigress had earlier defeated the Colombia women’s national basketball team and the Philippines women’s national basketball team but also suffered losses to the South Korea women’s national basketball team and France.
Head coach Rena Wakama has used the tournament as preparation against elite competition ahead of the World Cup.
Eyes on Final Group Game
Nigeria will conclude their campaign with a match against the Germany women’s national basketball team on March 17.
With their World Cup ticket already secured and a top-10 global ranking by FIBA, D’Tigress will aim to finish the qualifiers strongly while continuing to build momentum ahead of the global tournament in Germany later this year.
