When the D’Tigress, Nigeria’s women’s basketball team marched into Pierre Mauroy Stadium, in Villeneuve d’Ascq, France for their 2024 Olympic Games opener, against the Opals of Australia, many followers of Team Nigeria, prayed for a miracle and at worst a not-so-embarrassing score line for the African champions. Their prayer was not unreasonable.
Nigeria’s participation so far at this year’s Olympics has been disappointing. While the nation held high hopes for a stellar performance across various sporting events, since seeing the team waved their flag across the Seine at the opening ceremony, their expectation has not been met.
The Super Falcons, Nigeria’s female national team lost their group opener to Brazil earlier before the opening ceremony. The team failed to redeem themselves in their second group game, conceding through an 85th minute Alexia Putellas free-kick.
In other sports, Nigeria also struggled. Two-time Olympian, Omotayo Olajide lost 1-4 to Noshad Alamiyan of Iran in the men’s singles table tennis. His compatriot, and one of the most decorated players in the continent Quadri Aruna, also lost his match.
In boxing, Olaore Olaitan fell to the blows of Kazakhstan’s Oralbay Aibek in the men’s 92kg boxing category, and just before the D’Tigress squared up with the Australians, Cross River Effiong Edem lost her Women’s singles table tennis match, after Fatima Bello lost to Nanjia Yuan of France 4-0 in the same category.
With these performances, the general mood was one of disappointment. However, this backdrop of underperformance only spurred the women’s basketball team, their victory providing a welcome relief for Nigerian sports fans in Africa’s largest nation.
In stark contrast to the struggles of their compatriots, D’Tigress defied expectations with their resolute performances, pulling off one of the biggest offset in the tournament so far. Trailing the Australians by at least 8 pts in the first quarter of the game, the Coach Rena Wakama team dug deep into their reserves of Nigerian spirit to take the first Quarter by a point. Ezinne Kalu, Marjanatu Musa and the rest of the team played a compact game—strong in defense and resolute in attack—to lead 41-28 at Half time.
The girls kept the momentum going and at the end of the third quarter, the score was Nigeria 51 and Australia 47.
A resolute Nigerian play ensured that the Australians didn’t stage a comeback, with the game ending on Nigeria 75 -63 Australia, with D’Tigress recording their first Olympic win in 20 years.
While the journey for D’Tigress is far from over, their accomplishments victory against Australia have already captured the hearts of Nigerians and is a watershed moment for a team that has struggled with off-the-court issues.
When Nigeria's women's basketball team, D’Tigress, faced the Australian Opals in their 2024 Olympic Games opener, expectations were low due to Nigeria’s poor overall Olympic performance. Teams like the Super Falcons, and athletes in table tennis and boxing had faced disappointing losses. However, D’Tigress defied the odds, staging an impressive comeback to win 75-63 despite trailing earlier in the game. This victory, marking their first Olympic win in 20 years, provided a much-needed morale boost and captured the hearts of Nigerians.
