By Daily Sports Nigeria on July 18, 2025

No longer in the running for title contention, Nigeria’s Junior D’Tigress will face a date with Argentina on Friday (today), as the classification rounds take place at the ongoing FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Brno, Czechia, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The coach Juliana Akhere-led side were beaten 77-51 by Eastern European side Hungary in the round of 16 on Wednesday, to exit the race to become world champions. However, there is still pride to play for when they take on the South Americans at the Starez Arena Vodova Hall in Brno, for the right to finish in positions 9 to 16.

Nigeria, who are making their debut in the tournament, have averaged a total of 61.8 points, 42.3 rebounds, and 11.8 assists since the start of the competition. The West Africans have a 65.8 per cent conversion rate in the free throw line, with two-point field goals conversion standing at 33.1 per cent while three-point field goals is recorded at 21.2 per cent.

Argentina, on the other hand, have averaged a total of 46.5 points, 32 rebounds, and 12.3 assists in all four games played. They have a free throw conversion rate of 64.6 per cent, while their two-point and three-point field goals conversion rate is put at 39.2 and 22.6 per cent, respectively.

Nigeria’s form at the tournament saw them beat China in their opening game in Group B, but they suffered successive defeats to Canada and Portugal in their remaining fixtures to close out the round-robin phase with one win and two losses, which saw them finish third with four points. The defeat to Hungary in the knockout stages consigned the team to the classification rounds.

Argentina themselves have been nothing short of terrible, losing all four of their games at the World Cup. The South Americans fell 68-47 to Spain in their opener, and followed that up with a 77-49 defeat to Czechia. Further losses were recorded to Japan 83-44 to close out the round-robin phase before going down 95-46 against Australia in the round of 16.

Nigeria’s top performer remains Toby Nweke, who has averaged 11.5 points per game following double-figure hauls in her last two games, while Argentina’s Nerea Lagowski is the country’s top star with an average of nine points per game. A victory for either side would see them face Brazil or the Korean Republic in another classification fixture.

Source Punch Ng

Posted July 18, 2025

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