D’TIGRESS of Nigeria put up a brave fight tonight but lost 88-74 to champions and hot favorites the United States of America in the quarter-final of the women’s basketball event of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The African champions had already proven their mettle in the competition by beating world No.3 Australia and world No.5 Canada to reach the quarter-finals.
The Nigerian ladies made history by becoming the first African team, male or female, to ever reach the Olympics quarter-finals in basketball when they defeated Canada on Sunday, but USA were much too strong tonight.
The Americans took the first three quarters 26-17, 26-16 and 24-15 to build an unassailable lead and were heading towards a huge blowout.
But the undaunted D’Tigress battled back in the final quarter, winning it 26-12 to go out with a respectable 14-point defeat.
USA are the big favourites to win the gold medal given their pedigree and current form.
They have not only won all their games at Paris 2024, the Americans have also won the last seven Olympic titles in a row and claimed nine of the last 10.
