Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress made history on Sunday after beating Canada 79-70 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
They are the first ever African basketball team (men or women) to reach the quarter final at the Olympics.
Before now, African Women (basketball) teams had a total of only 1 win over 37 games in the Olympics. D’Tigress have recorded two more wins in the space of a week what it took Arican teams nearly half a century.
The Nigerian female basketball team recorded their first Olympic win in 20 years, with a 75-62 win over favourites Australia, in their first Group match in Lille, France six days ago.
They lost to France 75-54 on August 1 in their other Group C game.
After the win against Canada on Sunday, an emotional Coach Rena Wakama said, “It’s surreal and I don’t think it’s going to hit me yet for another couple of hours. I am proud of my girls and I have pushed team so hard. I have pushed them harder than anyone can even imagine. It’s because I know what they can do and we did that today, and we showed them who we are.”
Wakama would hope that her team’s historic run will continue in Paris.
In 2023, the Nigerian-born coach led D’Tigress to the Women’s Afrobasket title, making history as the first female coach to win the tournament since its inception in 1966.
