The Nigerian female Basketball team, D’Tigress and the backroom staff, left the the country today for Kigali, venue of the 2023 AfroBasket championship which starts in three days.

Before the team led by head coach Rena Wakama left the country via the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja, the team had a camping session in Lagos.

Thirteen out of the twenty players called up for the training exercise made the final roaster – with one out of the chosen 13 holding a stand by slot. Top of the roaster of 13 is Sarah Ogoke, Pallas Akpanah and Blessing Ejiofor.

Ahead of the trip to Rwanda, the NBBF released the team’s roaster which also includes five backroom staff, most of which are to assist new coach Rena Wakama in her first major competition in charge of the D’Tigress.

The D’Tigress, the tournament’s defending championship go into the 2023 edition as one of the favorites to win the trophy. If they succeed in doing so, they would do so for a fourth time, matching the efforts of their counterparts from Senegal.

The AfroBasket championship also serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The D’Tigress will face Egypt and DR Congo in group D of the championship.