Nigeria’s D’Tigress showed resilience but lost 81 -72 to the United States of America in their opening Group B match of the women’s basketball event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Ezine Kalu stood out for D’Tigress with a team-high 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Captain Adaora Elonu, Promise Amukamara, and Victoria Maucauly all scored double digits to combine for 31 points.
Their effort fell short of the required as the United States’ power play in the second and third quarters made the difference.
D’Tigress had taken three points to lead in the first quarter with a score of 20- 17 but failed to roar in the second quarter, falling short by 15 points to leave the score going into the interval at 44- 32.
Coach Otis’s Hughley halftime pep talk did little to change the game upon resumption as the United States scored 8 points more than the D’tigress to open a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Nigeria was twice better than the United States in the last quarter 22-11 but it was too little too late to stage a dramatic comeback.
It ended 82-71 as the US women extended their unbeaten run at the Olympic games to 50 matches.