The Nigeria Basketball Federation have invited twenty players for the final camping ahead of the 2023 Women’s Afrobasket in Rwanda. The list of invited players was released on Sunday night by the federation as the DTigress enter the final stage of preparation for the tournament.
Some of the invited players took part in the trials in Lagos, Abuja and Chicago which was organised by the federation last week while others were selected form the team that won last championship in 2021.
See the list of invited players below.
| SN | NAME | POSITION | PRESENT TEAM/CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyosi Abiola | PG | Eastern Michigan University, USA |
| 2 | Tomi Taiwo | PG | Texas Christian University, USA |
| 3 | Onaibe Believe Jessica | PG | ASPAC, Republic of Benin |
| 4 | Theresa Anta Joy Ebiega | PG | Firstbank, Nigeria |
| 5 | Okoro Ifunaya | CG | KPA, Kenya |
| 6 | Sarah Ogoke | SG | Ferroviario, Mozambique |
| 7 | Hembam Wandoo M | SG | MFM, Nigeria |
| 8 | Elizabeth Balogun | F | Duke Blue Devils, USA |
| 9 | Mariam Olawoyin | F | Chipola College USA |
| 10 | Adeyeye Adebola | F | Kentucky Wilscats, USA |
| 11 | Amanda Okodugba | F | Grindavik, Iceland |
| 12 | Amy Okonkwo | F | Halcones, Mexico |
| 13 | Liz Dixon | F | Connectecuit WNBA, USA |
| 14 | Murjanatu Musa Linan | PF | Firstbank, Nigeria |
| 15 | Pallas Akpanah | PF | Campobassi, Italy |
| 16 | Akaraiwe Nkem Uwa | PF | Customs, Nigeria |
| 17 | Mac-Dangosu A. Theresa | PF | Firstbank, Nigeria |
| 18 | Olawuyi Adenike Olayemi | PF/C | Pea University, Hungary |
| 19 | Lauren Ebo | C | Notre Dame, USA |
| 20 | Blessing Ejiofor | C | Western Virginia University, USA |
| SN | COACH/STAFF | POSITION | PRESENT TEAM/CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rena Wakama | Head coach | – |
| 2 | Samson Sotuminu | Assistant coach | – |
| 3 | Juli Negedu | Assistant coach | – |
| 4 | Prince Eazela | Assistant coach | Eastern Michigan University, USA |
| 5 | Aisha Mohammed | Assistant Coach/Video and analytics | Texas Christian University, USA |
| 6 | Players development coach | ASPAC, Republic of Benin |
Sarah Ogoke, Pellas Akpanah, Amy Okonkwo and Murjanatu Musa form the quartet from the the 2021 team. Notable absentees include team captain, Adaora Elonu, Ify Ibekwe, Ezinne Kalu, Promise Amukamara, Oderah Chidom (who has now retired from the team) among others.
The invited players according to report are to report to Abuja on July18 ahead of the 26th edition of the tournament.
DTigress are grouped alongside Egypt and DR Congo as they look to tie Senegal’s record of winning the tournament four consecutive times.
The team led by former player Rena Wakama will take on DR Congo in their opening match on the 29th of July at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
