Women’s Basketball’s Rena Wakama Leads Nigeria National Team As Head Coach At Paris Olympics
The games start for the national team with pool play beginning on July 29 against Australia at 4 a.m. CT ( 9 a.m. GMT). The second game is against France at 10:15 a.m. CT (15:15 GMT). The third game comes against Canada at 6:30 a.m. CT (11:30 a.m. GMT). All of the team’s three games during pool play are in Lille, Pierre – Mauroy Stadium.
The D’Tigress enter the Olympics ranked No. 12 in the FIBA Power Rankings. They are the No. 1 ranked women’s team on the African continent and this is the second straight Olympic appearance that the Nigeria women’s team will make.
Wakama was hired as the Nigeria Women’s National Basketball Head Coach in June 2023 and promptly became the first female coach to ever win the Women’s AfroBasketball title in August of 2023.
Pool Play Schedule for Nigeria National Team at 2024 Paris Olympics
Location: Lille, Pierre – Mauroy Stadium
Dates/Times:
July 29 vs. Australia – 4 a.m. (CT) / 9 a.m. (GMT)
August 1 vs. France – 10:15 a.m. (CT) / 15:15 (GMT)
August 4 vs. Canada – 6:30 a.m. (CT) / 11:30 (GMT)
Tulane’s women’s basketball team finished the 2023-24 season strong with a pair of wins in the AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The team returns six players from last season’s roster in Kyren Whittington, Kierra Middleton, Jaylee Womack, Joy Madison-Key, Amira Mabry and Lily Ba. The Green Wave have also added six newcomers to the squad for the upcoming season in Ana Baker, Dyllan Hanna, Victoria Keenan, Sherese Pittman, Sadie Shores, Kendall Sneed, Kianni Westbrook and Karma Wynn. Whittington led the team and placed fifth in the conference with her average 17.4 points per game. She also ranked fourth in the AAC in field goal percentage (50.0), 10th in free throw percentage (76.3) and second in both steals per game (2.52) and overall steals (68). Whittington was one of two returning players that averaged in double figures for the team with Mabry totaling 11.4 points. The program broke the school record for three-points made on the season with 231. The team also set a new school record in free throw percentage (76.8) and three-pointers attempted (726). Coach Ashley Langford was named the seventh head coach of the program on April 2. She is a former standout point guard at Tulane from 2005-09 that remains the school’s career leader in assists (722), assists per game (6.0) and minutes per game (34.4) plus ranks in the top 10 in ten of the program’s career statistical categories. Langford returns to Uptown from Stony Brook University where she led the Seawolves to an impressive 69-24 record over three seasons, including a 36-6 home mark. Her winning percentage (.741) was the highest in the program’s history. During the 2022-23 season, Stony Brook went 28-5 and advanced to the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament after capturing the Coast Athletic Association (CAA) regular season title with a 16-2 mark. At season’s end, Langford was bestowed the conference’s Coach of the Year honor.
