D’Tigress have emerged as the highest climbers in latest FIBA women’s ranking as the ladies moved up 15 places to 19th spot in the world after their 2018 World Cup heroics.
Nigeria became the first African team to win more than 1 game in a single World Cup tournament and also advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.
Ranked the lowest at 34th before the 2018 FIBA World Cup in Spain, D’Tigress have now emerged as the 2nd best team in Africa, replacing Angola.
The Coach Otis Hughley tutored side recorded 3 wins in a row defeating Turkey, Argentina, and Greece before losing to World number 1, the USA in the quarter-final.
While reacting to the latest ranking, NBBF President, Engineer Musa Kida expressed delight in the hard work of the federation which saw a better prepared and motivated D’Tigress take on the world in a stunning fashion and has finally been recognized.
According to him, with the recent feat of the team in 2017 when they emerged as African Champions before shocking the world at the 2018 FIBA World Cup, it was just a matter of time before the team took its pride of place.
World Cup winners, United States of America retain its number 1 spot while Spain, Australia, and France occupy the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place respectively.
Senegal who lost their quarter-final playoff to Spain retained their 17th spot on the global ranking while Angola dropped 2 places to 20. Mozambique also moved 2 steps backwards occupying 27th spot as Mali dropped 16 places to 40th.