28 Jul
    11 Aug 2024

    Historic! Nigeria becomes first African team to play in Quarter-Finals

    3 min to read
    Game report
    History being made

    D'Tigress continue to make history and have become the first African team to make it beyond the Group phase at the Olympics. What a journey!

    LILLE (France) - Nigeria are tearing up the script in a big way at the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 after they shot down Canada 79-70 to become the first ever African team (women or men) to take a ticket for the last eight.

    Also winning two games for the first time at the Olympics, the manner of the victory was also impressive as they condemned win less Canada to an early trip home.

    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria
    A historic campaign for Nigeria

    Turning point

    Nigeria gained the upper hand in the contest with a stunning 11-0 run to start the second half. It left Canada reeling and their opponents never recovered.

    Game heroes

    As usual, Ezinne Kalu was hugely influential and did her usual thing by pulling the strings in the backcourt.

    Ezinne Kalu had 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists

    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.

    Stats don't lie

    Nigeria were ruthless in punishing Canadian errors with an incredible 27 points from turnovers.

    Read more about what it means for Nigeria to make history

    D'Tigress fly the African flag higher than ever at the Games

    Bottom line

    Nigeria look like they could give absolutely anybody in the tournament a game right now. Their rugged defense was back after a lapse in their previous game against France. Physically they are a handful and anyone they come up against in the Quarter-Finals will have to play well to beat them. And that speaks volumes.

    Canada simply didn't have the firepower in this tournament to be successful and that was always the concern. In the end, it will be the margin and manner of this loss in particular that will feel uncomfortable for them and rub salt into the wounds of an early departure.

    They said

    Amy Okonkwo of Nigeria claimed the half-time talk was a difference-maker

    "I am so proud of us. The last game wasn;t good for us and even in the first half today, we were not doing what we wanted to come out and do. We had a talk with ourselves and realised it was win or go home and we decided we wanted to stay." Nigeria forward, Amy Okonkwo.

    "It's been a hell of a journey and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If you are competing with the best in the world in do-or-die situations you need to be ready in every possession of the game. I don;t want to make excuses. You have to show up every possession and every play. The teams we played did it better than us. " Retiring Canada forward, Natalie Achonwa.

    Quick notes

    - Nigeria are now assured to take part in the quarter-finals of this 2024 Olympic tournament and will become the first team from Africa to reach that stage (Men or Women); they have now won two of their three games in 2024 (v Australia and Canada), before this year, the teams from Africa tallied only one win in 37 games played in the Women’s tournament (already Nigeria, against South Korea in 2004).

    Canada have a lot to think about and will lose Natalie Achonwa who retired after the game

    - Canada have lost their three games during this 2024 Olympic tournament, the second time they failed to win a game in an edition, after 1976 when they lost their five games; they have conceded 70+ points in each of their last four games at the Olympics, their longest such streak in the tournament. - Ezinne Kalu scored 21 points today, only Mfon Udoka (3 games in 2004) previously managed to score 20+ points with Nigeria in a game at the Olympics. - Promise Amukamara made five steals against Canada, the second-most for a player with a team from Africa in a game at the Olympics (Nigeria’s Maktabene Amachree, 6 v Greece in 2004). - Kia Nurse missed all her seven attempts from behind the arc, the joint-most attempts for a player that failed to score a single 3-pointer in a game at the Olympics, alongside Korea’s Hyun Sun Han (0/7 v China in 1996) and Australia’s Belinda Snell (0/7 v China in 2008).

    FIBA

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