Napheesa Collier and her U.S. teammates admire Nigeria’s achievement of becoming the first African country to reach the Olympic basketball quarterfinals.
They aim to end Nigeria’s inspiring run when the two teams face each other in the elimination round on Wednesday.
“It’s amazing for them. My family’s from Africa. So to see African countries excelling in that way and getting higher and higher places in the sport is amazing to see,” Collier said. “So I’m really happy for them.”
The U.S. and Nigeria are familiar opponents. They played against each other in the Tokyo Olympics opener in 2021, where the U.S. won by nine points — one of only two close games during their 58-game Olympic winning streak.
They also competed in February at an Olympic qualifying tournament, where the U.S. won 100-46.
Nigeria impressed by defeating Australia in their first game and then beating Canada in their final pool play match to reach the quarterfinals.
“They’re very aggressive and very strong,” Collier said. “So I think we’re going to have to play some really solid team defense and making sure that we’re getting them away from the things that they like to do.”
Breanna Stewart recalls Nigeria’s run to the quarterfinals in the 2018 World Cup before the U.S. eliminated them.
“Tons of respect to Nigeria for what they’ve been able to do. I feel like they’ve, you know, always been in the mix,” she said.
“When you think about World Cups, especially, that they give us their best shot and it just goes to show, you know, how much the sport is growing and the parity amongst, you know, us versus everyone else in the world.”
Nigeria has stated that they won’t be intimidated by the U.S. In their Tokyo match, Nigeria forced the U.S. into 25 turnovers. This same aggressive defense has troubled Australia, France, and Canada in the Paris Games so far.
“When we are on the court, we smell blood. Nobody defends quite like us, and that is what keeps us going,” Nigeria guard Ezinne Kalu said after the win over Australia.
