Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress, are faced with an herculean task in the quarterfinals of the women’s basketball tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday.
The six-time Afrobasket champions must find a way to defeat the best team in the world—the United States—who are on the hunt for a record-extending tenth consecutive gold medal.
The D’Tigress have enjoyed historic success at the Olympics in Paris, setting records that have never been achieved by an African team at the Games. However, their upcoming battle against the U.S. poses a different problem from anything they have encountered in Paris.
The Rena Wakana-led side became the first African basketball team, male or female, to qualify for the quarterfinals following their victory over Canada, which came after they achieved their first Olympic game victory in two decades.
They won their first group game by shocking third-ranked Australia 75-62. Although they fell 75-54 to host France in their second game, the Nigerian team defeated Canada 79-70 in a must-win tie at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Paris.
Can D’Tigress 🇳🇬 fairytale continue against USA 🇺🇸 too? 👀
🔗 https://t.co/Qwd5IZVA3c#Paris2024 x #Basketball pic.twitter.com/fi7BkavLrD
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 7, 2024
Now in the last eight of the tournament against all odds, the D’Tigress, who came into the Olympics as the lowest-ranked side, can draw some inspiration from their group stage heroics, having made it out despite being drawn with three of the top-10 teams in the world.
The element of surprise is Nigeria’s biggest weapon going into the game, as they have so far sent a fearful shockwave to their opponents throughout the Olympics.
With a defensive solidity that has earmarked the team’s performances throughout Wakama’s tenure, the D’Tigress continued relentless approach to frustrating their opponents can also work in their favour against the U.S., who are known for going on stretches of unreciprocated offensive displays.
Nigeria leads the women’s basketball tournament in steals with 13.3 per game, led by the ever-moving hands of Promise Amukamara, who has so far registered nine steals in three games. They are also unforgiving when their opponents commit turnovers, averaging 23.3 points per game, a stat that places them above the USA (20.7) in that category.
However, the Americans are dominantly solid in the offensive department, where they lead the tournament with 92 points per game for 49.5% shooting from the field, while also holding a defensive resilience of 6.7 blocks per game.
The D’Tigress cannot draw from their past experiences against the USA, as the last time they met at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February, the Americans recorded a 100-46 blowout victory, a bigger leap from the 81-72 win they got in the group stage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The two sides will lock horns at the prestigious Accor Arena in Paris on Wednesday, with tip-off slated for 9:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. Nigerian time), and if Nigeria are to end America’s dominance at the Olympics, where they currently hold an uninterrupted winning streak since the Atlanta 1996 Games, they must show bravery and be on the front foot from the get-go.
