Nigeria is heading to the quarterfinals, becoming the first African team to reach this stage at the Olympics.
Their reward is a game against the seven-time defending champion U.S. in Paris on Wednesday, following the announcement of the Olympic women’s basketball draw late Sunday night.
The other matchups are Spain versus Belgium, France versus Germany, and Serbia against Australia. The winners of Spain-Belgium and France-Germany will face each other in the semifinals on Friday. The winner of the Nigeria-U.S. game will play against the winner of the Serbia-Australia match.
Nigeria has made history as the first African country to reach the elimination round in men’s or women’s Olympic basketball. The team is excited about going to Paris.
“The Eiffel Tower, croissants, more food,” said Ezinne Kalu, who led Nigeria with 21 points in their win over Canada on Sunday. “I mean, the little village has been great, but it’s only basketball there.
So to go to Paris and see other athletes competing in their sports and just be around the great energy of so many different countries, and to be the only African team there for basketball, it just really means a lot to us. And it’s something that we’re not going to take for granted.”
The U.S. has consistently reached the Olympic quarterfinals and is on a record 58-game winning streak. Nigeria had the seventh-best record of the eight teams that advanced, but the U.S. couldn’t play Belgium because they were in the same group.
Nigeria finished third in their pool after Australia beat France 79-72, which allowed Australia to finish second in their group and avoid facing the U.S. That was France’s first loss of the tournament and cost them.
“I’m just happy to survive. So, we got an opportunity to keep playing,” said Australia coach Sandy Brondello.
She added that it didn’t matter who the Australians faced in the quarters “as long as it’s not the USA.” Canada, Japan, China, and Puerto Rico did not advance to Paris.
