Breaking: D’Tigress secures first Olympic win in 20 years, beat basketball giants, Australia
Nigeria’s national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress had a dream start to their Paris 2024 Olympics and secured their first ever victory at the Olympic Games when they defeated Australia 75-62 in their group opener at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France on Monday.
At Tokyo 2020 they didn’t manage to claim a victory but they did impress with their performances and a strong fight in some very tough situations.
D’Tigress looked up to the terrific Amy Okonkwo for inspiration after the forward claimed MVP honors at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2023. She then also impressed in a big way at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Antwerp and she didn’t disappoint.
Ezinne Kalu was, however, the class act that carried D’Tigers to this memorable success. The playmaker has not represented her Nigeria since Tokyo 2020 and was on fire with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Australia spilled the ball a staggering 26 times in the game and that handed Nigeria a huge 26 points from turnovers. It was a difference-maker and especially in the first half when they almost handed their opponents a point per minute from that source.
The Nigerians will next play France on August 1, 2024 as they will be aiming for a historic quarterfinal berth.
