Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson lead Team USA to a quarterfinal berth after taking down Belgium at the Paris Games. (1:19)
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 the third quarter, when Nigeria opened with a 13-1 run. The Nigerians outscored Canada 23-5 in the third and took a 60-46 lead into the fourth.
Elizabeth Balogun added 14 points for Nigeria, while Promise Amukamara had 12.
Shay Colley led Canada with 17 points, Bridget Carleton had 13 and Kayla Alexander 12.
Earlier Sunday, Belgium routed Japan 85-58 to clinch the first of three remaining quarterfinal berths.
Emma Meesseman scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Belgium (1-2), while Japan (0-3) was eliminated after winning silver three years ago at the Tokyo Games. The Japanese players wiped away tears as they left the court.
This marks the second straight Olympics in which the defending silver medalist failed to medal. Spain won silver in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Games, then lost to France in the quarterfinals in Tokyo.
Belgium (1-2) needed to beat Japan by 27 points to finish with a better point differential than China to keep playing. The Cats had a packed house trying to help, with Belgium a mere 20 miles (32 kilometers) away and China (1-2) watching the scoreboard through the final three games to learn its fate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.