Lagos — After three days of suspense and drama, the national female team the Lady Tigers landed in Antananarivo, Madagascar by beating Cote d'Ivoire 71-64 in a game played yesterday morning in Lagos. The match played at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium from 7am was the third in three days for the two countries in the quest for a berth in the 2009 African Nations Cup for Women. The first and second matches were played at the 5pm Monday and Tuesday.

The Ivorians had taken the first game 55-52 Monday night which required them to win the next one in the two game series to pick the ticket or for Nigeria to win on Tuesday with a wider margin. On Tuesday Nigeria won but with the same 3-point margin as the game ended 66-63 after the Lady Tigers blew a 19-point lead into the third quarter. After much debate on whether an immediate over time should be played Tuesday night Wednesday, both sides agreed for a 7am game to enable the guests catch a 12noon flight to Abidjan.

Yesterday Nigeria took the lead but lost it thrice in the first two quarters before holding forth until the buzzer. The first quarter ended 23-20 for Nigeria and then 46-31, 60-47 and finally 71-64. Kouyate Mariama of Cote d'Ivoire led in scoring with 24 points while her sister Kani Kouyate who was the most consistent scorer in the three day show hit 22 points. Rashidat Sadiq led for Nigeria with 23 points while Vera Angwe made 14. Funmi Ojelabi and Mfon Udoka shot 12 points each.

Only the Ivorians turned up in Lagos for the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers. Benin, Togo, Ghana, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso and Liberia failed to travel down for the competition.

Nigeria is featured Funmilayo Ojelabi, Magdalene Ukato, Nkechi Akashili, Vera Angwe, Chioma Udeaja, Tamuno Whyte, Ekebo Ima-Obong, Amaka Adibeli and Ijeoma Uchendu. Others are Mfon Udoka, Rashidat Sadiq and Vivian Ewalefo who joined the team last week from the United States. But just before the West Africans vied for a spot in the African finals the draws for the competition in its 21st edition was held last weekend in, Antananarivo for the 12 countries featuring.

Hosts Madagascar are in Group A alongside 2007 runners-up, Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon, Mauritius and Mozambique. Group B has the defending champion, Mali with Angola, Rwanda, Guinea, Tunisia and Nigeria.

Nigeria Lady Tigers will open their campaign over there with the high profile match against defending champions Mali on October 9 which is opening day for the championship. Hosts Madagascar will open their campaign against neighbours Mauritius on the same day.

The competition will hold from October 9th to 18th. Nigerian ladies who were the champions in 2003 and 2005 finished fifth at the last edition held in Dakar, Senegal in 2007. The top two African teams from Antananarivo will represent Africa at the 2010 FIBA World Championship billed for Czech Republic.