FirstBank’s Women Basketball Team, known as the Elephant Girls, have won the 2015/2016 Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball Championship for the seventh time.
The First Bank said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
The bank said the tournament, which dunked off on March 18, 2016, saw the Elephant Girls took the lead in all the games in the Federal Capital Territory, Asaba and the finals in Lagos.
The bank said that the team maintained unbeaten run to reclaim the trophy from Dolphins FC, the defending champions of the tournament.
“The route to victory for the Elephant Girls was spurred by their wallop of the AHIP Queens of Kano in the quarter finals by 106-38.
“They mauled the IGP Queens by 105-22 in the semifinal game and dethroned Dolphins FC with a final scoreline of 75 – 60.
Barbara Harper, the Chairman of FirstBank Sports Governing Council, said the bank was proud of the Elephant Girls who out dunked opponents and took control of the game from the blast of the whistle to the end of the game.
Harper, also the Group Head, Human Capital Management and Development, said: “We also commend the efforts, tactics and game plans of the technical crew led by Coach Peter Ahmedu”.
She said that four members of the team also made the top five best players in the championship.
“They are Magdalene Ukato, Nkechi Akashili, Chioma Udeaja and Okpe Atosu. Nkechi Akashili was voted the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
“Zenith Bank Women Basketball League is in its 12th edition and the Elephant Girls have won the championship for the seventh time,” she said.
The FirstBank team is currently the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Champion and they were also champions of the FIBA Africa Women’s Clubs Champions Cup in 2003 and 2009.
In 2003, the Elephant Girls represented Nigeria at the International Women Basketball Competition held in Brazil.
The bank said that FirstBank, through its First@sports initiative, was committed to the development of sports in Nigeria.
It also said that the bank continue to groom talents to achieve their dreams in different sporting fields.
The bank said it recently announced Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria’s Queen of Track and Africa’s fastest woman as its brand ambassador.
