Nigeria lasted just three games of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, a loss to France in their final group game on Monday sending the African champions crashing out of the tournament.
But coach Rena Wakama says D'Tigress are still rebuilding and "weren't there yet" after a disappointing tournament that ended without a win.
The Nigerian women ended their campaign with a 111-56 loss to France on Monday, their third defeat in as many Group B games after opening with a 99-81 loss to South Korea and then falling 71-67 to Hungary.
While this last defeat to France was somewhat expected, the manner of the loss was sobering for a team that arrived in Berlin two years removed from a historic run to the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
"For us, it's tough because a lot of people saw what we did in 2024, and the reality of where we are today is that we're in a rebuilding process," Wakama said at the post-game press conference.
"I think connectivity is a big thing for myself, my team, my staff. So, where we are today isn't where we were two years ago. And I had to explain that to my team."
France made the gulf between the teams clear almost immediately, racing to a 31-13 lead after the opening quarter and stretching that advantage to 65-26 by halftime.
Nigeria scored 13 points in each of the first three quarters and shot just 28% from the field for the game, while France shot 58%. The French also made a record 22 3-pointers, passing Japan's newly set total of 20 from their defeat of Mali on the opening day. France's Gabby Williams scored 25 points, Janelle Salaun 19 and Marine Johannes 17.
"Huge credit to France," Wakama said. "They are a phenomenal team. A lot of those players are in playoff shape. They play in the WNBA. And my players, we just weren't there yet to be able to compete at the level that they were competing at."
The result completed a sharp reversal from Paris 2024, where Wakama guided Nigeria to victories over Australia and Canada and made D'Tigress the first African basketball team, male or female, to reach an Olympic quarterfinal.
It also represented a step back from Nigeria's last appearance at the Women's World Cup in 2018, when D'Tigress became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals after beating Greece 57-56 in Tenerife.
Nigeria qualified for the 2022 tournament but did not participate after the Nigerian government withdrew the country's national basketball teams from international competition.
This time, there was little momentum from the start.
South Korea opened Nigeria's tournament with a 99-81 victory, with Jihyun Park scoring 27 points. Portland Fire's Amy Okonkwo led D'Tigress with 22 points as Nigeria stayed within three points at halftime before collapsing in the second half and getting outscored 51-36 in the last two quarters.
The opportunity to recover came against Hungary, but Nigeria spent almost the entire game chasing after falling behind 21-13 in the first quarter. Dorka Juhasz finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds as Hungary won 71-67, despite a late Nigerian rally that produced 25 fourth-quarter points.
The overall performance was made even more disappointing because the team had engaged in a whirlwind of preparation that started with training camp in Chicago and games against WNBA teams, to playing three games against China before rounding out their pre-tournament preparations in Europe.
Wakama acknowledged that Nigeria's preparation for the tournament had been good, but said that competing at this level requires more: "We had a great preparation, but I think there's another level that we have to get to in that preparation.
"And huge credit to the NBBF for supporting us and giving us an opportunity to be here, but I know in my mind there is another level we have to get to."
Okonkwo, who had been Nigeria's most productive scorer through the opening two games, was held to just three points against France, missing all eight of her field-goal attempts. She finished with eight rebounds and three assists.
"It was a tough game," Okonkwo said. "France is a great team. We saw it at the 2024 Olympics. We've seen it every qualifier. They are a really great team, and they really came out to play today.
"I think we just struggled to find our rhythm early and we were unable to get the win today or really stop them."
France had also beaten Nigeria 75-54 in the group stage of the Paris Olympics and defeated D'Tigress by a much closer margin of 93-86 when the teams met during the World Cup qualifying tournament in Villeurbanne in March.
Amid the disappointment, Wakama pointed to the silver lining of performances of Nigeria's younger players as one of the positives she will take away from Berlin.
"I'm the most proud of our fight," she said. "When you have a new team, and I have so many young players, I think I have about five or six young players on this team that have never been at this stage before, some that just graduated college.
"Grace Efosa played about 20 minutes. She came on and gave us 15 points. Miriam, these are names you guys will hear in the future. But I threw my young ones in the fire, and they responded for me. So I'm super proud of that."
Grace Efosa-Aguebor's 15 points came in just over 20 minutes and led Nigeria against France. She shot 4 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and made five of six free throws.
Nigeria leave Berlin 0-3 and bottom of Group B, a result that Wakama believes is as disappointing as it reflects where this version of D'Tigress are compared to what the team accomplished two years ago.
The task now, she says, is finding out what that next version of the team will be: "We can't rely on two years ago's success.
"So who we are today, we're still figuring that out. And I know we will."
