What you need to know about Africa's pride "D'Tigeress"

Ezinne Kalu was beaming broadly as she ran around the court with her teammates while holding Nigerian flags in celebration. Nigeria had made it to the Olympic quarterfinals, a feat never accomplished by any other African nation in men's or women's basketball. With 21 points from Kalu, Nigeria defeated Canada 79-70 on Sunday to earn a berth in the elimination round in Paris.

 This was Nigeria's second Olympic victory. "It means a lot, you know, not just to us as a team, but to the entire world of Africa," Kalu stated. "It only gets harder from here."

Win Against Australia 

An assistant coach used her phone to record the team's celebration as they moved to midcourt after the final buzzer sounded. The Nigerians paused to give the Canadians a high five before continuing their celebration with a midcourt scramble. They relished the opportunity to embrace and pose for further pictures on the court when an assistant coach took a flag from a spectator.

Coach Rena Wakama remarked, "It won't really hit me for a few hours." "I'm extremely proud of my girls." Nigeria stunned Australia in their opening match at the Paris Games. For the African nation, it was their first Olympic victory in 20 years.

On Sunday, in the Olympic women's basketball competition, history was made that would have long-lasting effects across a continent. The Nigerian women's basketball team firmly punched their ticket to the quarterfinals at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with a 79-70 victory over Canada. This made them the first African team, male or female, to advance to the Olympics' knockout stage. The figures are astonishing. There is never a men's African team that makes it to the round of eight. Women's teams had a 1-37 overall record going into the Olympics in Paris. But in just one week during these Games, D'Tigress more than doubled that total, and they did it with a swagger and style that belied their lack of prior international success.

Anyone who has watched Nigeria play throughout this group stage can see that this squad is no accident; after dominating Australia physically in their first game, they held their own against France to send a message to the entire globe. Nigeria's victory over Canada on Sunday was, in many respects, a microcosm of this team's style: they were down four points at the half, but they overcame it with an 11-0 run early in the third quarter, using swarming full-court defense to spark scoring on the opposite end. 

This style is derived from the explosive backcourt combination of Amy Okonkwo and Ezinne Kalu, who are both fearless and defend the point of the spear.

A challenging few years Nigeria has had a challenging couple years following their World Cup quarterfinal appearance in 2018. After the nation's defeat at the Tokyo Games in 2021, internal conflict between the government and the basketball federation prevented the squad from competing in the 2022 World Cup.

The Nigerian squad had a rough start to the Olympics. On July 26, the team was not allowed to board Nigeria's boat for the opening ceremony. It will now play in the final eight on Wednesday at Bercy Arena, which is located on the banks of the Seine River.

South Sudan, competing in its first Olympic basketball event, came dangerously close to missing the quarterfinals, giving Nigeria some competition in Paris. Although they lost to Serbia in their last group stage encounter on Saturday, South Sudan would have been the first men's squad from Africa to go that far. The opportunity came from South Sudan's victory over Puerto Rico in the tournament opener.