HUELVA (2016 Rio Olympics) - Adaora Elonu's astonishing campaign with Club Baloncesto Conquero in Spain's Liga Femenina de Baloncesto is good news for Nigeria.

As well as averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game, the Nigerian-American - who starred at AfroBasket Women 2015 - has become a major factor for the Huelva-based club which has an 11-4 mark, good enough for second in the standings behind leaders Perfumarias Avenida.

Nigeria are targeting a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympics and as such will need their best players to come together at the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) which runs from 13-19 June. While she is putting on stellar performances week after week for her club, Elonu's desire of wearing the Nigerian jersey again is often in the back of her mind.

The 1.85m forward and the rest of the national team are confident they have realistic chances of clinching one of the five places on offer. However, in order to reach Rio and secure the women's national team's first Olympic appearance since 2004, she will have to continue playing at the same level as she is currently doing for her club. If that happens, anything is possible.

"The sense of unfinished business is that we were not able to accomplish the automatic bid," Elonu said to FIBA.com, when asked about coming in third at AfroBasket Women 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon last October.

"Our potential is definitely unreached, and our chances in the next tournament are completely up to us, and how focused and ready we will be. From discussions with players on our team, we know what we need to do, and we are ready and fortunate to have another opportunity to qualify.

All we can do is continue to have faith and work hard. It will be amazing to have both men and women competing for Nigeria in the Olympics and we will work to make that possible for this year. - Elonu

Nigeria looked set to reach the Final in Yaounde, but Elonu's team-high 17 points weren't enough to avoid a heartbreaking 71-70 loss to hosts Cameroon in the Semi-Finals.

The 25-year-old says it's time to move on.

"We were definitely disappointed and bitter about our Semi-Final loss but we pulled together to finish out the tournament against Angola and get the last spot to reach this last qualifying attempt. And I am so glad that we showed more of us in that last game," she recalled.

And being named to the All-Star Five only confirmed how much of an impact Elonu had for her country.

AfroBasket Women 2015 All-Star Five (from left to right): Aya Traore (SEN), Adaora Elonu (NGR), Geraldine Robert (GAB), Ramses Lonlack (CMR) and Deolinda Ngulela (MOZ)

"My mindset going into the competition was normal. I went with team Nigeria with the same objective as all of the teams and players - to compete and succeed in qualifying. I didn't want to be over anxious or too relaxed about the grand scheme, the Olympics. So I have the mindset to just 'be' and play in a way that would be good for myself, and team Nigeria. That usually helps me in whatever competition or game I am competing in, so I just carried that with me to Cameroon."

FIBA