D’Tigress point guard Ezinne Kalu says there is more to come from the team during their historic Paris 2024 Olympics campaign.
The New Jersey-born three-time AfroBasket winner spoke after the team defeated Canada 79-70 in their last Group B game on Sunday, setting up a semifinal face-off against the USA on Wednesday night in Bercy Arena on the banks of the Seine River.
Rena Wakama’s team were pitted against higher-ranked Australia, France, and Canada for the Women’s Basketball Tournament, but they braced the odds to progress from the group.
They opened their campaign with a surprising 75-54 victory against Australia, their first win in the Olympics in 20 years, and lost by the same margin to France in their second game before claiming the scalp of Canada, becoming the first African team (women or men) to make it beyond the group phase in the history of Olympic basketball.
The team initially topped the group due to accumulating five classification points and went down to third after Australia defeated France 79-72 in the other group match.
Speaking ahead of the much-anticipated clash with the USA, Kalu, who has already delivered at the biggest events, including Tokyo 2020 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2018, said more should be expected from the team.
“The Eiffel Tower, croissants, more food,” said Kalu, who led Nigeria with 21 points in the 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 club there for basketball competing, it just really means a lot to us. And it’s something that we’re not going to take for granted.
“It means a lot, you know, not just to us as a team but to the entire world of Africa. It only gets harder from here.
“I’m starting to see the light. I mean, the tunnel has been pretty dark, but I’m happy we get to see the light. I mean, there’s so much more; there’s so much more to come.”
Since her return to the team after three years away from national duties, Kalu has been pulling the strings in the backcourt.
