Team Nigeria’s women basketball squad, ‘Tigress, have qualified for their first-ever quarterfinal at the Olympic Games following a hard-fought 79-70 win over Canadian counterparts in their final group B match at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France, on Sunday.
The victory earned D’Tigress their first-ever appearance in the quarter-final of the Olympics basketball tournament.
Nigeria sailed through the group stage with five classification points and sit top of the pack, with France still to play Australia later in the day. The Rena Wakama-led ladies bounced back from losing to the French in their second game after winning Australia in the first game.
There was little to separate the D’Tigress from the Canadians in the first quarter that finished 18-18. The Canadians edged the team in the second quarter, and the game finished 41-37 by halftime. The third quarter took a different toll from the previous periods, and the Canadians could only manage five points as Nigeria swarmed them. D’Tigress sealed the victory with superior performance in the final quarter and rounded off a historic 9-point victory.
