History: D’Tigress defeats Canada to become first African team to reach Olympic Quarter-Finals

The Nigerian female Basketball team, D’Tigress, made history at the Paris Olympics 2024 by qualifying for the last 8, claiming a 79-70 victory over Canada.

D’Tigress became the first ever African team (Men or Women) to play in the Quarter-Finals: of an Olympic games.

Nigeria, three-time Women’s Afrobasket Champions faced a tough test in the North Americans ranked 5 in the world.

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 defeating Australia in their first game.

There was little to separate the D’Tigress from the Canadians in the first quarter that finished 18-18, but the Canadians edged the Nigerians in the second quarter to finish the half four points ahead 41-37.

The third quarter took a different tone from the previous periods, and the Canadians could only manage five points as Nigeria swarmed them 23-5 which proved to be the difference.

Ezinne Kalu led scoring for Nigeria with 21 points, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah had 7 rebounds to lead that section, while Promise Amukamara had the most assists, 6.

D’Tigress sealed the victory with a superior performance in the final quarter and rounded off a historic 9-point victory.