Nigeria's D'Tigress Suffer Defeat In Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opener Against United States
- Nigeria's D'Tigeress will hope to bounce back to winning ways in their next game against France on Friday, July 30
- The country's women national basketball team suffered an 81-72 defeat to the United States in their Tokyo 2020 opener
- They made a good impression in the first quarter beating their opponent 20-17 but were overwhelmed in the second and third laps
PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
Nigeria's D'Tigress got their Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games campaign started on a losing note following their 81-72 defeat to the United States basketball team.
Coach Otis Hughley Jr's ladies made a pretty good impression in the first quarter after edging their opponents by three points - finishing the round 20-17.
But, coming into the second quarter, D'Tigeress failed to maintain momentum as they lost 27-12 at the end of the round as reported by Guardian NG.
The third quarter also finished in favour of Team USA who went ahead to claim the round 28-18 while the west African team came back to win the last quarter 22-11.
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
How the game ended
However, their comeback in the final lap of the encounter was not enough to help them claim overall victory over their opponent as Nigeria lost the game 81-72.
Both teams won two quarters each but the Team USA scored more points in the second and third quarters which earned them the advantage they needed to claim their first win in the women's basketball event.
Nigeria will square up against France on Friday, July 30 in their next Group B meeting for a chance to revive their qualification chances while their last group game is against Japan on August 2.
How D'Tigers lost Tokyo 2020 opener to Australia
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria's D'Tigers got their campaign for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics medal off on a losing note following their 84-67 defeat to Australia in their Group B opening encounter.
This is the second time the Australians are beating Coach Mike Brown's men in a couple of weeks after first facing off in a test game earlier this month.
The first quarter started on a balanced note as the two teams finished with 23 points apiece before the break, but they dropped momentum a bit in the second quarter with the Boomers winning with 20-17 points.