Paris 2024: D’Tigress secure Olympic berth despite USA thrashing
The Nigeria women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has sealed qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics after Belgium defeated Senegal 97-66 on Friday, 9 February 2024.
The reigning African Champions will be making their third appearance at the Summer Olympics after appearing in Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020.
They started their 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, with a 72-65 win over Senegal and lost the second game to the USA 46-100 on Friday.
D’Tigress qualify for Paris 2024#FIBAOQT pic.twitter.com/nJiF2OTIca
— DTigress (@DtigressNG) February 9, 2024
With a game in hand still to come on Sunday against the hosts, Belgium, they have secured a spot in Paris 2024. Regardless of the outcome of the game, they qualify courtesy of a superior head-to-head record over Senegal.
Thrilling Start, Stuttering Second
USA made light work of taking down Nigeria at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp as they turned up the heat by beating the African champions 100-46.
The D’Tigress lost all four quarters against the world champions, 13-19, 7-32, 15-24, and 11-25.
It was about as far away from their epic opener with Belgium as you could get. Instead of a last-second tip-in to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, USA was rampant in this one as they moved to 2-0.
The second quarter was the turning point when USA put their foot on the accelerator and rammed it firmly to the floor. They posted a power-packed 32-7 period that sunk any hopes Nigeria had of staying in the contest.
Sabrina Ionescu was arguably the pick of the crop for USA and finished with a nice haul of 9 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. USA was plus 52 with her in the game, and she earned the TCL Player of the Game.
USA rode their way to the top of just about every statistical category. But one big contrasting number was, of course, the contrasting shot percentages downtown, with USA making 15 of 31 and Nigeria only 2 of 18.
This proved to be a mismatch in both quality and depth. While Nigeria was hoping they could follow up their pivotal first-day success against Senegal by pushing their opponents hard, they were unable to live with the transition and offensive firepower of USA.
Nigeria’s head coach, Rena Wakama, described the match as challenging, expressing disappointment in the team’s failure to execute their game plan. She highlighted the need for increased determination and focus from her players, acknowledging a lack of intensity in their performance.
“It was a rough one; we didn’t execute what we were looking for,” Wakama said. “I challenge my girls to play with fire and focus, but we lacked that. We came back in the second half with more fight, but by that point, it was too late.”
Elizabeth Balogun echoed her coach’s opinion and emphasized the importance of maintaining focus and intensity when playing against formidable opponents like the USA.
Despite acknowledging the team’s shortcomings, she expressed pride in their efforts and highlighted the ongoing journey of improvement ahead.
“Against teams like the USA, you have to be focused from the jump and you can’t slack at all. I am still proud of my girls. We have a long way to go and have a lot of improving to do,” Balogun said.
