Nigeria women's basketball reaches Olympic quarterfinals with historic win - ESPN

VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France — Ezinne Kalu scored 21 points as Nigeria made Olympic history by becoming the first African team, men's or women's, to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in basketball when it beat Canada 79-70 on Sunday.

The Nigerians (2-1) now wait to learn who their next opponent will be. They already have doubled their number of wins in pool play, coming to France looking for their first Olympic victory since the 2004 Athens Games.

They went to midcourt to start celebrating while an assistant coach recorded the moment on her phone. The Nigerians stopped to high-five the Canadians, then returned to their celebration.

An assistant coach grabbed a flag from a fan for photos on the court, and the Nigerians took their time hugging and posing for more photos as they savored the moment.

Canada, ranked fifth in the world, leaves winless in three games, eliminated on the final day of group play by a team ranked 12th.

Five countries came in already having clinched berths, led by the U.S. — which is trying to win an unprecedented eighth straight Olympic gold — along with Spain, Serbia, France and Germany. The draw setting the quarterfinals follows the final game between Australia and host nation France.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and went winless in Tokyo. This women's team was denied access to Nigeria's boat for the opening ceremony on July 26, and now it will play Wednesday in Bercy Arena on the banks of the Seine River.

Nigeria scored the first six points of the game. Captain Amy Okonkwo hurt her right shoulder early in the second quarter after colliding with Canada forward Aaliyah Edwards while diving for a loose ball, and Canada took a 41-37 lead into halftime.

Okonkwo returned for