{"id":607804,"date":"2026-04-26T17:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607804\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:24:09","slug":"dtigress-fall-to-la-sparks-in-historic-wnba-preseason-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607804\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u2019Tigress Fall to LA Sparks in Historic WNBA Preseason Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports247.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG-20260426-WA0016.jpg\" data-caption=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG-20260426-WA0016-640x853.jpg\"   alt=\"\" title=\"IMG-20260426-WA0016\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n        <a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/playstake.club\/landing\/?c=htZNXIaU&amp;offer=sports247&amp;utm_source=sports247ng&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=cf_dir_global_display&amp;utm_term=display&amp;utm_content=sportsbook\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"adv-link\" aria-label=\"Stake Sports Generic 2_GIF copy-728\u00d790-px\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Stake-Sports-Generic-2_GIF-copy-728x90-px.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"no-lazyload\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s senior women\u2019s basketball team, D\u2019Tigress, suffered a 63\u201389 defeat to WNBA side Los Angeles Sparks in a landmark preseason friendly held on April 25, 2026, at Viejas Arena.<\/p>\n<p>The encounter marked a significant milestone, as D\u2019Tigress became the first African national team to face a WNBA franchise, underlining the growing global recognition of Nigeria\u2019s dominance in women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n<p>From tip-off, the Sparks asserted control, showcasing superior efficiency in shooting and execution.<\/p>\n<p>The American side converted 49 percent of their field goals (29-of-59), while also excelling from beyond the arc with an impressive 35 percent (11-of-31).<\/p>\n<p>Their near-perfect display at the free-throw line, hitting 20-of-21 attempts (95 percent), further widened the gap.<\/p>\n<p>D\u2019Tigress, on the other hand, struggled to find rhythm offensively.<\/p>\n<p>The Nigerian team shot 37 percent from the field (20-of-54) and endured a difficult night from three-point range, converting just 17 percent (3-of-18). They also posted a 63 percent success rate (20-of-32) from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the loss, the fixture offered valuable exposure for the youthful Nigerian roster, which featured a significant number of players drawn from U.S. college basketball programs.<\/p>\n<p>The game forms part of a broader U.S. tour aimed at preparing the five-time Afrobasket champions for the upcoming FIBA Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>D\u2019Tigress are scheduled to continue their tour with further high-profile matchups against the Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever, as they fine-tune preparations for global competition.<\/p>\n<p>While the result did not go in their favour, the historic clash represents another step forward in the development and international competitiveness of Nigerian women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s senior women\u2019s basketball team, D\u2019Tigress, suffered a 63\u201389 defeat to WNBA side Los Angeles Sparks in a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-607804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}