Nigeria's Elizabeth Balogun celebrates beating Canada in basketball at the Paris Olympics with Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah.Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
This is not the way Natalie Achonwa wanted to end her run with the Canadian basketball team.
The four-time Olympian had dreams of finally finding the podium in Paris. Instead, Canada was eliminated from the tournament Sunday following a 79-70 loss to Nigeria.
The Canadians went winless across three preliminary round games.
“You’re competing with the best in the world, in do-or-die situations, every possession, every game,” Achonwa said of the Olympic competition.
“If you want to compete with the best in the world, you’ve got to show up every possession, every play. And the teams we played just did it better than us.”
After finishing ninth in Tokyo, Canada came into this summer’s tournament ranked fifth in the world. The squad was expected to challenge for a medal, but struggled with turnovers and defensive lapses in losses to Nigeria, Australia and France.
The team’s Olympic run fell apart in just two quarters, said head coach Victor Lapena.
“I think we have two terrible moments during this tournament – the second period against France, third period against Nigeria,” he said. “I think the rest of the minutes the team played on the court, this team played good basketball. I’m very proud of them.”
Nigeria jumped all over the Canadians early on Sunday, forcing turnovers and taking a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Canadians rallied and went up in the second, thanks in part to a trio of three-pointers from guard Shay Colley.
Canada took a 41-37 lead into halftime, but Nigeria burst into the third with a 15-0 run that broke their opponents.
“We just couldn’t match their physicality coming into the second half,” said Colley, who led Canada with 17 points. “They turned us over a lot and capitalized on that. We didn’t take care of that business and it showed by losing by nine.”
Nigeria (2-1) got 21 points from Ezinne Kalu, while Elizabeth Balogun poured in another 14, and advanced to the quarter-finals.
The Nigerians are the first African team – men’s or women’s – to make an Olympic quarter-final.
“Man, it feels so good,” Nigeria captain Amy Okonkwo said of the feat. “It feels so good to do this for our country. It feels so good to do this for our families, for ourselves, for each other. It’s such a big accomplishment and I’m so glad that it was us.”
Tilts between Germany and the United States, and Australia and host France, later on Sunday will determine which other teams make the quarter-finals, starting in Paris on Wednesday.
Canada, meanwhile, will head home empty-handed.
“It’s very disappointing, but we just look to the future,” Colley said. “We’re a young group, and we’ve just got to build from now.”
Future teams won’t include stalwart centre Achonwa.
The 31-year-old from Guelph, Ont., confirmed Sunday that she has played her last game in the country’s uniform.
Achonwa said the result wasn’t what she wanted, but that wins aren’t what truly matter.
“It’s never about the outcome. It’s about the journey,” she said, emotion choking her voice. “These are the people that you invite to your weddings, that you invite to your baby showers, that my son will know for the rest of his life, and it’s bigger than basketball.”
She goes out holding the women’s national team record for most Olympic appearances (four), most Olympic Games played (18) and all-time assists (43).
Achonwa is “a legend” in Canada’s basketball program, Lapena said, and an inspiration to the next generation of players.
“Always trying to do her best in any moment,” he said. “Difficult for her to play this tournament, in that she didn’t play in the last two years, was trying and trying. The only thing I can say is thank you. Because to try in this way is the most important.”
With the country’s stars struggling on Sunday, the coach turned to some of his young players, including 18-year-old Syla Swords.
The guard from Sudbury, Ont., played over 19 minutes and contributed four points, two rebounds and two assists.
Wearing the Maple Leaf has meant a lot to Achonwa – and she hopes it will mean a lot to the next generation, too.
“When I take this jersey off, I hope that I left it better than I found it. And that everyone back home knows that every time I put it on, I did it with the utmost amount of pride and passion,” she said.
“And I can’t wait to see who’s next going to be wearing it after me and I hope that they can carry it forward and that they can leave it better than I left it.”
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