Defending Champion Dolphins Out as Zenith Bank/NBBF Final 8 Opens In Lagos

The 2026 Zenith Bank/NBBF Women’s Basketball League enters its decisive stage as eight teams converge on the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, from September 28 to October 3, with defending champions Dolphins Basketball Club absent from the race for the title.

Nigeria Customs, AS Sky Queens, Titans, Air Warriors, MFM, First Bank, Victoria Queens and Bayelsa Blue Whales earned their places in the Final 8 after the fiercely contested Atlantic and Savannah Conference campaigns.

Dolphins, who defeated First Bank in last year’s final to lift the trophy, failed to finish among the top four teams in the Atlantic Conference and will therefore not be in contention as the championship enters its final stage.

Their absence guarantees a new champion, with the remaining eight teams now battling for national honours.

First Bank, last year’s finalists and record nine-time champions, bring considerable championship experience to the competition, while MFM will draw on its recent success after winning back-to-back league titles in 2023 and 2024.

The Final 8 therefore brings together teams with different levels of championship experience and ambitions, setting up a competitive contest for the title in Lagos.

Beyond the trophy, the competition represents another stage in the development of women’s basketball in Nigeria. For more than two decades, the league has provided a platform for female basketball players to compete, develop their skills and build professional sporting careers.

The competition has also served as a pathway to the national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, with several players who have featured prominently for Nigeria emerging from the domestic league.

At the centre of the league’s development has been Zenith Bank, which has been the sole sponsor of the National Women’s Basketball League since 2005.

Through its partnership with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), the bank has supported the continuation of a competitive domestic platform for female basketball, providing opportunities for talents to be discovered, nurtured and developed.

The bank’s wider community-development initiatives include the reconstruction and beautification of Ajose Adeogun Street and Roundabout, the annual Zenith Bank Youth Parade and Light-Up Ceremony, the construction of ICT Centres in tertiary institutions across the country and the construction of the ultra-modern Iga Iduganran Primary Healthcare Centre, among others.

The focus, however, now shifts to the National Stadium in Lagos, where eight teams will compete from September 28 to October 3 for the 2026 Zenith Bank/NBBF Women’s Basketball League crown.

With Dolphins out of the contest, a new champion will emerge from the Final 8.