Nigeria lose 74-88 to USA
The D’Tigress, Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, gave a valiant effort but fell 74-88 to Team USA in their quarter-final match at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Under the leadership of coach Rena Wakama, the team made history by becoming the first African side—male or female—to reach the quarter-finals of an Olympic Games after their victory over Canada in the final group stage.
In the match, the Americans took an early lead with a 26-19 score in the first quarter and maintained their advantage with another 26 points in the second quarter, compared to D’Tigress’s 16.
Despite the loss, the team’s remarkable journey highlighted their resilience and determination.
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Ezinne Kanu and Murijanatu Musa proved pivotal to Nigeria’s aspirations yet the D’Tigress were back on the back foot in the third quarter losing 15-24.
Remarkably, the D’Tigress showed their strength in depth in the last quarter with an amazing 26 points as against America’s 12.
But it was a case of too little, too late as the Americans won the encounter 88-74.
Defeat notwithstanding, the D’Tigress can be proud of their achievement at this Paris 2024 Olympics as they earned huge salutation for their gusty performance against the Americans who progressed to the semi-finals.
