Paris Olympics: D’Tigress forward proud team bows out on a high
Team Nigeria forward, Pallas Kunaiyi Akpana is proud of D’Tigress’s performances in the women's basketball at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games despite losing to Team USA in the quarter-final on Wednesday night.
"This team is one of a kind. I am blessed to be a part of this team and this group. These girls never give up and they always keep fighting through any adversity. We are going out, but I think we are not going out on any kind of negative note. I think we accomplished something big this year and we need to build on this for the future." Said Akpana
Team USA forward, Breanna Stewart agrees with Akpana and she acknowledged the qualities of D’Tigress,
"We're feeling really good as we got a lot of great contributions from everyone. We had to make sure that we came out with the right mindset and mentality. We knew how Nigeria played and we had to be ready for the physicality. It's amazing to play in front of different fans whether it is here in Paris or in Lille at these Olympics. [The USA program] It's the gold standard as we expect to go and win gold. We know that everything leading up to this was hugely important. We know that we carry a lot because of those who have played before us." Said, Stewart
USA beat Nigeria 78-55 in the quarter-finals as they brought the stunning and record-breaking run of D’Tigress to an end.
While it was business as usual for the USA as they continued to bear down on yet another successful title defense, Nigeria bowed out of the competition as basketball heroes.
They made history in so many ways and stepped off the court having been the first African team (men or women) to have even competed at this stage.
There wasn't one in truth, USA just gradually used their talent and superior depth to slowly and steadily pull further and further clear. Only a late Nigeria flurry of points cut the margin to a more respectable level.
The game hero was A'ja Wilson who had another game to remember, with the forward posting a performance efficiency valuation of 32 after producing 20 points from a 9 of 11 shooting effort - as well as grabbing 11 rebounds.
USA finishing with 70% shooting from two-point range is an epic number even for the defending Olympic champions.
USA are looking like they are ready for their 'medal' games and completely locked in and on course for their usual success The forwards in particular are in good form and it will take something special to stop A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Brittney Griner - either in the Semi-Finals or the Final if they make it as expected.
Nigeria has been sensational. The underdogs attained historical and unprecedented success, winning the hearts of basketball fans not only in Africa but beyond. Beating Australia and Canada showed their potential, while they didn't let the USA have it all their way in this last outing. Rene Wakama and her players have done an amazing job.
Nigeria also set themselves new standards at Paris 2024 - including in this last game.
Nigeria scored more than 73 points in consecutive games for the first time at the Olympics: their 26 points in the fourth quarter of today’s game are the most the USA has ever allowed in the last quarter of a game in the competition
