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In women’s basketball, Nigeria’s national team, D’Tigress, suffered a 72-81 points defeat at the hands of the USWNT despite putting a great performance that threatened the dominance of the Americans. Just about a week ago, D’Tigress in an exhibition game leading up to the Olympic Games were beaten with a wide points margin of 93-62, but the Nigerians were out for some serious basketball business in their first Group B game. An impressive first quarter saw the Nigerians come out with a 20-17 points lead and extended it to 25-20 in the early parts of the second quarter before the Americans took charge of the game and finished the second quarter with 27-12 points. The half ended with the US leading 44-32 points.
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In the third quarter, the size advantage of the US team would come into play as they extended their 12 points lead to 20 (26-18). The Nigerians would reawaken in the fourth quarter and recorded an impressive 22-11 points win, but it was too late to defeat the US team. A’ja Wilson emerged as the best performer for the US team after scoring 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Americans in what was her Olympic debut. For the D’Tigress, Ezinne Kalu, also making her Olympic debut was the top performer, registering 16 points. Coach Otis Hugely would now work towards preparing his ladies for Friday’s (July 30) encounter against France that lost 74-70 against the Japanese team in the other Group B match. Sources: Guardian NG Premium Times Featured Image Source: Daily Nigerian
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