ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - In the quarterfinals, Nigeria dismantled Cameroon 75-45, avenging their overtime loss in the group stage with a wire-to-wire beatdown that sent them to the semifinals.
Nigeria set the tone immediately, opening with a 20-8 first quarter.
They followed with a 28-12 second quarter, taking a 48-20 lead into halftime — a 28-point cushion that all but decided the outcome before the second half began.
Cameroon showed fight in the third quarter, winning it 19-15 in an attempt to climb back into the game. It was not enough. Nigeria's defense took over in the fourth quarter, closing the game with a 12-6 run to secure the 75-45 victory.
Nigeria and Cameroon had met only once before in tournament history, in the group stage, where Cameroon needed overtime to escape with a 75-74 win.
Cameroon rolled into the rematch undefeated, having swept Group C with wins over Senegal (61-30) and Tunisia (53-41) in addition to the overtime win over Nigeria.
Given the closeness of their first meeting and Cameroon's size advantage, Cameroon was the slight favorite on paper.
That form disappeared. Nigeria's coaching staff built their entire defensive plan around denying Eveline Toyounon the ball, and it worked. She was held to just eight points and finished with 11 rebounds, 14 assists, and an efficiency rating of 12.
Nigeria's offense was balanced. Zainab Adelaja posted a team-high 20 efficiency rating with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
Favour Anari added 16 points, two rebounds, and three assists.
Nigeria's head coach, Peter Akindele, credited the change in game plan for the result: "We did things differently this time around."
Cameroon's Marie Messina identified the slow start as the deciding factor: "We started slowly, which affected the rest of our game.
FIBA