History was made on Saturday when Dolphins - in the fashion of David's conquest over Goliath - beat First Bank to emerge champions of the Zenith Bank Women's Basketball League.
Before the league final, which was held at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, not many gave Dolphins any chance as they faced the perennial national champions First Bank, which paraded obviously bigger and more experienced players.
However, at the end of day Dolphins' athleticism and determination ensured that they edged the Elephant Girls, who had at least seven national team players, 77-72 to win their first ever national league title after beating every other club in the league.
The game was the toughest fixture in the league, as both teams played at a clutch almost throughout the match, with Dolphins having seven points as their biggest lead, and First Bank's biggest lead being six points.
First Bank led at the end of the first quarter 14-12. Dolphins, who are reigning FIBA Africa Zone 3 champions, won the second quarter 17-14, to lead 29-28 at the break. Both teams scored 22 points apiece in the third quarter, while the fourth and most dramatic quarter saw Dolphins taking a seven point lead with about a minute to go but the Bankers were able to take back two points before the clock ran down.
First Bank's Chioma Udeaja was the highest scorer in the game with 25 points, with teammates Nkechi Akashili and Uju Ugoka, who also plays professionally in Italy, scoring 15 and 11 points respectively. The Elephant Girls scored no three-point throws out of seven attempts and got 22 points from free throws out of 35 attempts.
On the Dolphins side, Juliet Currency led scoring with 21 points out of which three were from a three-point throw. Patience Okpe scored 19 points, while Nagede Kodjo got 13 points.
Scoring three three-point throws out of six attempts, Tokunbo Olaosebikan, who was clearly the smallest player on the court, eased Dolphins from a lot of pressure, especially towards the end of the encounter.
After the match, Dolphins players went into wild jubilation with the Chairman of the club, Wale Aboderin.
Their highly elated coach Ochuko Okworogun told our correspondent that the win was a dream come true as she had chased the trophy for over 10 years both as a player and as a coach of the team.
Okworogun praised her players, who she said gave the game their all, out-played their opponents and deserved the win.
She said, 'It is sweet to be a winner. There's this feeling you have as a winner that you cannot describe especially when you win after working very hard for it. I'm very happy. I've been working at winning the trophy from when I was a player, more than 10 years ago. I never won it as a player and now, I've won it as a coach, after fighting for some time.'
The Dolphins coach said the First Bank team they beat on Saturday were stronger than the one that defeated them in last season's final.
She said that their opponents had added some good players to their squad, including Uju Ugoka, a big player, who schooled and also played professional basketball abroad, while her team was depleted when one of their key players, Amaka Nwakama, travelled just before the final phase.
'That didn't bother us. We took time out to watch their games and saw that their power was in their big players. We then decided that we would work on their big players and take the game from them and let the guards play and that is what we did and it worked for us,' Okworogun said.
Dolphins' captain Bintu Badmus said she knew from the beginning of the season that they would win the league this season.
Badmus said, 'The final game was tough. It was close but most of the time we led. It was towards the end, about one minute to the end of the game, that we picked up and won the game. Before we started the match, I knew that God had done it for us already.
'After this, we are going to fight for the continental trophy. At the continental level we went from ninth to fifth last term, maybe this time we will move up to the first position. With the support that we are getting from our chairman.
It was also a harvest of trophies for Dolphins as Currency emerged the highest scorer and the Most Valuable Player. She, alongside Okpe, were also among the league's top five players, which also had Udeaja and Akashili, both of First Bank, and Blessing Samuel of Customs.
Currency, who was dropped from the national team camp, said her emergence as MVP ahead of national team players, was a proof that her elimination from the camp was an error.
She said, 'I'm very happy. In fact, I don't know what to say. I didn't believe that I would be the highest scorer and also be the MVP. I'm also very happy that we defeated First Bank and have won the trophy. They are a good team. The last time we played against them, they won. But this time, we came together and concluded that if it is fight, we will fight it to the end; and that this year we must take it with God on our side.
'I was injured during our second game in this phase. But I told myself that with this injury I must win something; the injury will not be there for nothing. That was the kind of determination my teammates and I had.
'When I was dropped from the national team camp, I was very sad but that experience was part of the things that kept me going. When they dropped me, I told myself that it was a big mistake they had made, that I'm coming back to prove them wrong.'
For winning the league, Dolphins got N1.2m. First Bank got N1m, while First Deepwater, who beat IGP Queens 53-43 to claim the third place, got N800, 000.
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