The Nigeria Senior National Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress, began the basketball tournament at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics with a 75-62 victory over Australia.
Ezinne Kalu scored 19 points to lead the D’Tigress to win the better-rated Australian team.
Basketball fans in Lagos poured encomium on the team, as they earn the first valuable points in opening match of the group game.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in separate interviews on Monday that the team did well in winning the first game.
A basketball fan, Sesan Olabode, said that the team deserved the victory, having prepared well and played well in the match.
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He urged the team to continue to rise to the challenge ahead of their opponent as the first victory would boost their confidence.
He said, “it is a fantastic win, the team showed great confidence in defeating Australia, the team should continue to rise to every challenge ahead of them.”
A grassroots basketball coach, Austin Okafor, said that “the team proved that it is indeed Africa’s powerhouse in women basketball.
“The team deserves commendation and should continue to fight hard in subsequent matches.”
Another grassroots basketball coach, Femi Adetoye, said the team had shown that it was a force to reckon with.
He said Australia was not a pushover and for D’Tigress to defeat them at the highest stage of basketball competition, it showed the depth of quality in the team.
He added that “it is a great result, Australia is no pushover in world basketball, therefore, D’Tigress should work harder in subsequent matches.”
Emeka Nwani, a basketball fan, said that the team showed good character and great judgment of the game.
He said that with what he saw in the first Paris encounter, the team would surely go far in the tournament.
Source: NAN
