SportsD'Tigress Lose Second Round Match Against France 87-62

D’Tigress Lose Second Round Match Against France 87-62

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July 30, (THEWILL) -The glimmer of enthusiasm that the pre-Olympics preparations of the country’s male and female basketball teams, D’Tigers and D’Tigress, enkindled in sports fans heading into the Summer Games in Tokyo dimmed some more after D’Tigress suffered another loss on Friday 87-62 against France.

Not too dissimilar from D’Tigers’ defeat against Germany, D’Tigress lost three of the four quarters and seemed incapable of keeping France at bay in the earlier stages of their second round encounter at the Olympics.

It took a while for Team Nigeria’s basketball ladies to begin to impress themselves on the game in a noticeably slow start with the five pillars of their squad Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, Ezinne Kalu, Promise Amukamara, Adaora Elonu, and Victoria Macaulay calling the shots.

Glo

The Otis Hughley Jr-led Nigerian team however allowed Alix Duchet to get the first bucket of the encounter after only three minutes of the game with a three-pointer. Duchet added her second long-range bucket to give France a the early lead.

But, Nigeria slowly got back into contention with Gabby Williams, who made two free throws before teammate Amukamara got Nigeria’s first points. Points continued to go both ways until the first quarter ended 18-12, in favour of France.

Starting off brightly in the second quarter, D’Tigress closed to within three points of their opponents at 22-19. Amukamara completed a steal and made the layup but that was as good as it got for the Nigerian team. France got back their control to widen the gap between the sides and take the quarter 26-15.

With a lead increased to 17 points overall, the French built on that momentum in the third quarter. Desperation had set in on the Nigerian side as a second defeat was staring them in the face with a potential early exit from the Games. It made D’Tigress hasty to take shots and to make errors in defense.

The much calmer French team organised themselves, carefully set up their offense and picked holes in the Nigerian defense to increase their advantage. They easily ended the third quarter 23-15 to the good of their lead.

That knowledge of victory saw the French play a more conservative fourth quarter and did everything they could to limit the advances of D’Tigress. The 20-20 end score of the fourth quarter happened to be the best for the Nigerians in terms of points but it was too little too late.

Their second straight loss in as many rounds makes qualifying through to the next stage a much more difficult prospect for D’Tigress. They will hope to improve in the third round match against Japan on Monday. It might be their first win as the hosts have also lost their first two games of the Olympics.

ade two free throws before teammate Amukamara got Nigeria’s first points. Points continued to go both ways until the first quarter ended 18-12, in favour of France.

Starting off brightly in the second quarter, D’Tigress closed to within three points of their opponents at 22-19. Amukamara completed a steal and made the layup but that was as good as it got for the Nigerian team. France got back their control to widen the gap between the sides and take the quarter 26-15.

With a lead increased to 17 points overall, the French built on that momentum in the third quarter. Desperation had set in on the Nigerian side as a second defeat was staring them in the face with a potential early exit from the Games. It made D’Tigress hasty to take shots and to make errors in defense.

The much calmer French team organised themselves, carefully set up their offense and picked holes in the Nigerian defense to increase their advantage. They easily ended the third quarter 23-15 to the good of their lead.

That knowledge of victory saw the French play a more conservative fourth quarter and did everything they could to limit the advances of D’Tigress. The 20-20 end score of the fourth quarter happened to be the best for the Nigerians in terms of points but it was too little too late.

Their second straight loss in as many rounds makes qualifying through to the next stage a much more difficult prospect for D’Tigress. They will hope to improve in the third round match against Japan on Monday. It might be their first win as the hosts have also lost their first two games of the Olympics.

About the Author

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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