Nigeria ends FIBA qualifying
Nigeria finished its FIBA World Cup qualifying window with a 2‑3 record — wins over Colombia and the Philippines but losses to Korea, France and Germany, a mixed slate that coaches say still offers developmental positives (espn.com).
Nigeria trimmed the deficit to world No. 3 France to seven points in Villeurbanne, a swing from a 21‑point loss at Paris 2024 and a 25‑point loss at Tokyo 2021 that the team and staff flagged as a measurable improvement. (espn.com) Murjanatu Musa paced Nigeria with 24 points in the 101–84 game against the Philippines, while Nicole Enabosi scored 23 and Victoria Macaulay contributed 22 in that same boxscore. (globalsportsarchive.com) (fiba.basketball) Victoria Macaulay was named the TCL Player of the Game after a 19‑point performance in the 70–37 victory over Colombia, a contest that Nigeria led from start to finish and played before 768 spectators. (fiba.basketball) The close 73–81 defeat to Germany featured Murjanatu Musa as Nigeria’s top scorer with 14 points and a late-game highlight from Germany’s Patricia Brossmann; that match drew just 301 fans at the Astroballe. (fiba.basketball) Nigeria entered the Villeurbanne window already qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup by winning the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket, so federation and coaches emphasized using the qualifiers to test rotations and accelerate younger players’ development. (espn.com) Center Pallas Kunaiyi‑Akpanah posted on social media that the narrow loss to France felt like progress compared with previous Olympic defeats, a sentiment cited by analysts as a morale marker for the squad’s trajectory. (espn.com)
