Nigeria opened the Paris Games with a surprising victory against Australia. That was the first win in the Olympics in 20 years for the African nation.
PARIS, France — Ezinne Kalu scored 21 points and Nigeria made Olympic history by becoming the first African team, male or female, to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in basketball when it beat Canada 79-70 on Sunday.
The Nigerians (2-1) came in having only one win — back in the 2004 Athens Games — and now they’re staying around the Olympics longer than they ever have before. Their quarterfinal opponent is the United States, which is going for an eighth consecutive gold medal.
The next opponent didn’t matter after the win over Canada.
Kalu and her teammates went to midcourt to start celebrating, with an assistant coach using her phone to record the moment. The Nigerians stopped to high-five the Canadians, and then returned to celebrating with a midcourt huddle.
An assistant …