AfroBasket: D’Tigress star Okonkwo salutes Wakama

<p>D’Tigress forward Amy Okonkwo has saluted coach Rena Wakama following the team’s impressive run at the 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket in Rwanda.</p>, <p>Despite having a short time to prepare for the tournament, D’Tigress have weathered the storm in Kigali and will be playing in the quarter-finals on Wednesday (today) against Mozambique.</p>, <p>Nigeria reached the last eight after two comfortable wins in the group stage. They began with a 69-35 demolition of Dr Congo before seeing off Egypt 83-65.</p>, <p>Okonkwo has been instrumental for the defending champions, scoring 29 points, 13 rebounds and scoring all 11 free throws she got against Egypt.</p>, <p>She believes the exploit of the team is down to the coach.</p>, <p>“Everything the coach says motivates us. We came for the win, and we knew we had a target painted on our backs. We have a standard that we play to and we’ve been trying to establish a new standard with the new coach,” Okonkwo told FIBA.</p>, <p>“We stepped on the court for each other and we’re ready to play for each other and for the country. I think we can improve on our turnovers. We have had way too many. We also need to improve on our shooting but I think we should continue to instil confidence in our shooters so they can improve too.”</p>, <p>Wakama, a former national player, replaced Otis Hughley at the end of June and took charge of the team within few weeks to the start of the tournament.</p>, <p>Despite being in charge for only three weeks, Wakama oversaw the rebuilding of the team ahead of their African title defence.</p>, <p>D’Tigress won the AfroBasket consecutively in 2017, 2019 and 2021.</p>