Record winner of the Zenith Bank/NBBF Women Basketball League, First Bank, on Tuesday, September 16, overcame early scare from Bayelsa Blue Whales, in their first game of this season finals currently ongoing at the Indoor Sports hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Bayelsa started by taking up points off their illustrious opponent in the early minute of the 1st quarter before the bankers showed their superiority as they finished the quarter 11-10, and went ahead to extend their lead in the 2nd quarter to four points as the first half ended 24-20 points.
It was all First Bank from that moment after winning the 3rd and 4th quarter with 17-7 and 12-9 points respectively to end the game with 53-36 points.
In the first game of the evening, it was a big heartbreak for Air Warriors as they lost with just two points against Royal Aces.
Despite taking seven points lead towards the end of the game, Royal Aces allowed their opponents gained momentum with the points evaporated with the game tied 52-52 with just a minute to go.
With the crowd inside the hall expecting extra time, Royal Aces came up with the winning basket to secure the victory 54-52 points.
Meanwhile, there was good news for the eight teams participating in this year’s finals after the sponsor of the league, Zenith Bank PLC, announced a total sum of N15.5m up for grabs for all the participating teams.
The champions will pocket N7.5m while the runners up go home with N5m as the third place team will receive N3m for its efforts.
Also, all the Atlantic and Savannah Conference winners are going to receive N1m prize money while also individual award winners like the MVP will go home with N500,000 each.
