THE quarter-final match in the women’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games going on in Paris, France, will be decided today.
One of the most anticipated games of the day is the last game of the quarter-finals between the USA and Nigeria’s D’Tigress.
D’Tigress Head Coach Rena Wakama says she is excited to meet the World Champion, the United States of America, at this stage of the competition.
Wakama, who spoke virtually from Paris, France, said, “We are really excited because we want to play the best of the best.”
To reach this stage of the competition, D’Tigress brushed aside world number 3 Australia 75-62 in their opening game of the basketball tournament.
On Day 2, the African super heavyweight were locked down by host France, 75-54, but they came back in the final group game to beat Canada by 79-70 points.
“We believe that everything happened for a reason. We met them already in Belgium but we did not play our best, so we are looking forward to meeting them again on Wednesday and playing better. So we are looking forward to it.” Coach Wakama said.
The Rivers State-born former Afrobasket-winning coach stated, “I think the first game that we played with them was an eye opener. We were able to watch the game and break down what we did wrong, what we did good, and I think now that our girls have the experience of playing against them, it would help a lot.”
The Americans have yet to feel the pain of defeat since the basketball tournament started, but Rena Wakama stressed that although they met them in Antwerp in February, the USA is meeting this brand new D’Tigress for the first time.
“We’ve also played about five games now; we have three friendlies and three matches here, so we are going into the game confidently. Playing well, and we have a great addition to the team (Ezinne) that brings another level of intensity and experience to us.”
Wakama strongly believes that if the team utilises their defensive ability effectively, they, the USA, will fall just like the Australians and the Canadians.
“So, I think the USA has not played against this team before because the team they played against in Belgium is different from this team. So, we are looking forward to doing what we do and doing it well.”
The former First Bank Basketball Club and Western Carolina Catamounts player is determined to engrave her name and that of Nigeria’s female basketball in the history book.
Meanwhile, D’Tigress are now 8th best in the world according to the latest FIBA Power Rankings. They moved from the 12th to the 8th spot.
In the other quarter-finals pairings, Serbia will take on Australia, Spain will meet Belgium and host France will face Germany.
Here are all the results of female basketball at the Games.
GROUP A:
Spain 70 -62 Serbia
China 80- 58 Puerto Rico
Serbia 81-59 China
Spain 63 -62 Puerto Rico
Serbia 58-55 Puerto Rico
Spain 90 -89 China
GROUP B:
Australia 79 -72 France
Nigeria 79-70 Canada
France 75-54 Nigeria
Australia 70 -65 Canada
France 75 -54 Canada
Nigeria 75-62 Australia
GROUP C:
United States 87 -68 Germany
Belgium 85-58 Japan
United States 87 -74 Belgium
United States 102-76 Japan
Germany 83-69 Belgium
Germany 75-64 Japan
Eighteen-Eleven Media