Lynx vs. Nigeria: Historic WNBA Preseason Game in Kansas City

Minnesota Lynx to Face Nigerian Women’s Basketball Team in Historic Preseason Game

The Minnesota Lynx announced an exciting preseason game that will mark a milestone in the history of women’s basketball. The team will face the Nigerian women’s national basketball team at the T-Mobile Center on April 27th. This game is part of a series of three preseason matches for the Lynx, which also include matchups against the Washington Mystics and the Toronto Tempo, one of the newest franchises in the WNBA. The match against the Nigerian Women’s National Team adds an attractive international element to the exhibition schedule, while the match against Toronto Tempo is sure to generate a lot of interest as the young organization continues to consolidate in the league.

This event not only marks a milestone for the Lynx as the first WNBA team to play against an African selection, but also makes them the third team in the league to face an international team. Previously, Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky played against the Brazilian women’s national team, with victories for both teams.

Additionally, the Lynx will be the first WNBA team to play against a continental champion, as D’Tigress arrives as the current AfroBasket champion, having won five consecutive titles. For Nigeria, this will be the first time they face a WNBA franchise, although they are used to playing against league players in their matches against Team USA. Despite having lost all their previous matches against the team considered the best women’s basketball team in the world, they have shown a notable improvement, especially in their last encounter in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympic Games. Although the United States took the victory, it was not without complications. D’Tigress, despite a night with scoring problems, limited the United States to an 88-74 victory, their narrowest margin against the Nigerians.

D’Tigress kept the United States on its lowest winning margin in an Olympic quarterfinal. Their 26-point comeback in the final quarter, reducing a 30-point deficit, was the largest conceded by the United States in that period of the tournament. The 88 points scored by the United States are among the lowest totals the team has recorded in the Games. The Nigerian team has players with experience in the WNBA and in American basketball. Amy Okonkwo shined with Dallas last season, after her time with the Connecticut Sun, while Murjanatu Musa was at the Sun’s training camp, and Ezinne Kalu also spent time with the Atlanta Dream. Coach Rena Wakama is part of the Chicago Sky coaching staff and also coaches in the Unrivaled league. For the moment, there has been no confirmation from Nigeria, which could be due to the leadership crisis facing the country’s basketball federation, the NBBF. The outgoing president, Musa Kida, is facing opposition from some members of his board of directors and the Congress, who argue that the current board’s four-year term expired on January 31, according to the NBBF Constitution. Kida’s supporters maintain that the term expires on October 6. At the center of the controversy is the start date of the board’s term. While one faction points to the January election, the other argues that they did not begin to function until they were officially recognized by the government in October. A similar crisis caused the team’s withdrawal from the last FIBA Women’s World Cup. For now, Kida remains at the head of the NBBF, and this match seems to have been organized under his leadership.