Nigeria’s D’Tigress suffered a setback in their Olympic campaign, falling 75-54 to host nation France yesterday in their second group B game of the Paris Olympic Games at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
After shocking Australia, ranked third in the world, in their first game this week, the Nigerian women were unable to withstand France’s tenacity.
France won the game by nearly 20 points, while Nigeria will now wait for their third match to compete for a berth in the next round.
Head coach Rena Wakama opened the game with a starting lineup featuring Ezinne Kalu, Amy Okonkwo, Murjanatu Musa, Kunayi Akpanah-Pellas, and Elizabeth Balogun. France jumped out to an early lead, capitalizing on Nigeria’s turnovers to build a nine-point advantage. However, D’Tigress rallied to close the gap, trailing 24-20 after the first quarter.
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The French team continued their strong play into the second quarter, extending their lead behind the leadership of Gabby Williams. At halftime, Les Bleues held a comfortable seven-point advantage, 38-31. Nigeria struggled from the field, shooting 37% (11-of-30) compared to France’s 55% (17-of-31). Both teams forced turnovers – Nigeria with 13, France with 8.
The French restricted Nigeria to just eight points in the third quarter while they scored 16, ending the quarter with a commanding 54-39 lead. The final quarter was once again dominated by the French, who outscored Nigeria 24-15 to win 75-54.
Ezinne Kalu was the game’s highest scorer for the second consecutive game, scoring 18 points, while Murjanatu Musa contributed 14 points. Amy Okonkwo had a forgettable game, scoring just six points.
Up next for D’Tigress are their Canadian counterparts. The Nigerian ladies will take on winless Canada in their final group B game.
Meanwhile, Team Nigeria’s hopes of securing a medal at an individual event at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics took a big blow after swimmer Tobi Sijuade was eliminated in the heat.
Sijuade competed in Heat 5 of the men’s 50 metres swimming for a chance to progress to the semi-final but narrowly finished third, thus ending his Olympics dream.
Sijuade clocked a time of 23.34 seconds, 0.63 seconds behind the qualifying time in his heat.
While the time was a respectable effort, it was not enough to secure a spot among the fastest 16 swimmers who progressed to the next round.
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