Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress, ended their remarkable Olympic journey yesterday with a quarter-final defeat by the defending champions and world No. 1, the United States, with a score of 88–74.
The American team was bolstered by basketball great LeBron James, Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo, and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. The D’Tigress started strong, trailing by just nine points at the end of the first quarter, 26-17. However, the U.S. asserted their dominance in the second quarter, outscoring Nigeria 26-16 and taking a 19-point lead into halftime at 52-33.
In the third quarter, the U.S. extended their lead further, outscoring Nigeria 24-15. Despite being ranked 12th in the world by FIBA, the lowest among the participating teams, the D’Tigress showed resilience and tenacity throughout the game.
Entering the final quarter with a score of 76-48, the Nigerian team outperformed the U.S. 26-12 in the last period, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit, and they ultimately fell short with a final score of 88-74.
The D’Tigress made history by reaching the quarter-finals after defeating fifth-ranked Canada, a feat no African team had achieved in an Olympic tournament. This year also marked the first time the team recorded two wins at the Olympics, a significant improvement from previous African teams, which had only one win in 37 games played in the women’s tournament (Nigeria’s victory over South Korea in 2004).
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