Excited Rena Wakama ready to play USA

Following the quarterfinal pairing that pitted Nigeria with the Olympic and World Champions, the United States of America, head coach of the D'Tigress, Rena Wakama, is very excited to face the US for the second time in six months.

The two sides had met in February at the Olympics qualifying tournament in Belgium, which the Americans won convincingly.

Prior to that time, there have been three meetings between the two teams since 2018, the quarterfinal of the 2018 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, the 2020 Olympics qualifying tournament and the group stage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games all ended in a defeat.

While many fans would have preferred to see Nigeria take on another opponent, Wakama who spoke virtually from Paris is excited to play the best team in the world.

''We are very excited to play the US, and we want to play the best of the best. We believe everything happened for a reason.''

The D'Tigress lost by 54 points to the US at the 2024 Olympic qualifying tournament played in Belgium. Wakama says her team will play better when they meet on Wednesday.

''We met them already in Belgium; we didn't play our best. We are looking forward to playing them again on Wednesday and playing better.'' 

''I think the first game we played against them was an eye opener. We were able to watch the game and break down what we did wrong, and we did good, and I think now that our girls have the experience playing against them will help a lot.

In the last 5 games played by the D'Tigress, they have lost three and won two to Australia and Canada, while they lost to Serbia and Germany during the warmup games and France in the group stage of the Olympics.

The 32-year-old believes these games have built their confidence going into their quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

''We have had like 5 games: 2 friendlies plus the three group games. We are going into this game confident, and we have a great addition to the team in the person of Ezinne Kalu, who has added intensity and experience to us,'' added Wakama who acknowledged Kalu's immense contribution to the team.

''I think the US has not played against this team yet; the one in Belgium is different from the one here. We will go back to do what we do and give them a run for their money.