VIGO (2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament) – Nigeria’s point guard Sarah Ogoke, who last October helped her country claim a third-place finish at AfroBasket Women 2015 held in Yaounde, Cameroon, insists they can succeed at this summer’s FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT).

The 12-team WOQT will take place in Nantes, France, from 13-19 June, and Ogoke and her teammates will need to win at least three games to earn one of the five spots on offer for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The western Africans have been drawn in Group C along with Belarus and Korea.

The 1.75m guard admits that the WOQT won't be an easy task as their opponents have high level players on their roster.

"Belarus is a big team with a lot of height and veteran players. They are well coached and have WNBA experience in their key point guard and center, Lindsey Harding and Yelena Leuchanka," - Ogoke

Back at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Nigeria beat Korea 68-64, and Ogoke who was 14 at the time, is now one of the key players of the 2-time African champions.

She is performing well with the Spanish side RC Celta, averaging 14.7points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 assist per game.

Ogoke feels the D’Tigresses have the right pieces to each the olympics.

"Nigeria has a lot of great players. For us to secure a ticket to Rio, we'll all need to perform as a collective unit. We'll need to remain cohesive through the ups and downs of each match.”

Nigeria will open their Group Phase taking on Belarus on 13 June, before facing Korea the following day.

FIBA