March 15, (THEWILL) — Nigeria’s D’Tigress were beaten 93-86 by host nation France at the Astroballe Arena in Villeurbanne on Sunday, suffering their second defeat at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
France, the world’s third-ranked side, controlled proceedings from the opening tip and led 57-45 at halftime after outscoring Nigeria 29-21 and 28-24 in the first two quarters.
Janelle Salaun led the French attack with a game-high 19 points and was named TCL Player of the Game, supported by Leila Lacan on 13, Valériane Ayayi on 12, and Gabby Williams on 11 in a balanced offensive showing.
Elizabeth Balogun top-scored for D’Tigress with 18 points, while Amy Okonkwo, back in the lineup after missing the previous day’s game against the Philippines, contributed 16.
Murjanatu Musa and Ezinne Kalu each added between 14 and 15 points, with Promise Amukamara and Victoria Macaulay chipping in 10 apiece.
Nigeria outscored France 21-15 in the third quarter to threaten a comeback, though the hosts held firm in the fourth, winning that period 21-20.
France edged the shooting percentages across the board, converting 47 per cent from the field against Nigeria’s 44 per cent and shooting 40.7 per cent from three-point range to D’Tigress’ 30.4 per cent. Nigeria were particularly poor at the free-throw line, landing 60.7 per cent of their attempts compared to France’s 78.6 per cent. A crowd of 4,213 watched France close out the win at the Astroballe.
The defeat carries no qualification consequences, with both nations having already earned their berths at the 2026 World Cup in Berlin.
D’Tigress, who entered the tournament on the back of winning the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket title, have now won two and lost two and will conclude their campaign against Germany on Tuesday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
