Paris Olympics: Nigeria's D'Tigress Loses to USA

By defeating Nigeria 88-74, the United States advanced to the semi-finals in their pursuit of an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in women's basketball.

At stake is a spot in the gold medal final when they take on Australia on Friday, who defeated Serbia 85-67. In their last group match on Sunday, Nigeria defeated Canada to become the first African team—male or female—to go to the Olympic quarterfinals.

Nigeria trounced Australia in their opening pool match on July 29, 2004, marking their second Olympic success after winning in Athens, 2004. However, defeating the incredibly skilled USA proved to be too much for them.

By the end of the first quarter, the team known as D'Tigress was behind the USA by nine points; by the end of the second quarter, that lead had grown to 19. In the third quarter, the USA took control of the game and built a 28-point lead before finishing the game comfortably at Accor Arena.

In the twelve gold medals available for women's basketball since its introduction at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the United States has won nine of them. After defeating Germany and Spain, respectively, hosts France and Belgium will play in the other semi-final on Friday.