Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, will on Wednesday, August 7 clash with the seven times back-to-back champions, USA in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics women’s basketball competition.
Following the draw on Sunday by the Olympic committee, Nigeria, the first African nation ever to reach the last eight of an Olympic basketball tournament, men and women included will now face the USA.
Nigeria which had previously beaten Australia in the on-going tournament dealt a blow on Canada 79-70 on Sunday, while the USA defeated Germany 87-68.
Host nations France, the bronze medalists three years ago at the Tokyo Games, will play Germany, Spain will take on Belgium and Serbia will play Australia.
Meanwhile, head coach and team captain of Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rena Wakama, and Amy Okonkwo, have explained how the African champions overcame Canada on Sunday to qualify for their first quarterfinals at the Olympics since their first appearance in Athens in 2004, The PUNCH reports.
It was also the team’s first time of recording two wins at the Olympics, which they did impressively to confirm winless Canada’s early trip home.
After their defeat to France in their second game on Thursday, head coach Rena Wakama said the African champions needed to get back to their ways against Canada, which was exactly what they did.
Parading several big names, rising teenagers, and recent WNBA draft picks, Canada were favoured to hold their own against any opponent in France after finishing fourth at a recent FIBA Women’s World Cup, but they were surprisingly schooled by the impressive D’Tigress.
Despite being ranked 12th in the world, the lowest among the participating teams at the tournament, Nigeria gained the upper hand in the contest with a stunning 11-0 run to start the second half. It left the world No. 5 reeling as they failed to recover from the heavy setback.
As usual, Ezinne Kalu was hugely influential and did her usual thing by pulling the strings in the backcourt.
The playmaker registered 21 points, while Elizabeth Balogun chose a great time to have her best game in memory as she stepped up with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.