Ex WVU WBB Player Part of Olympic History with Nigeria

With no role insignificant when it comes to a major team accomplishment, Blessing Ejiofor is part of history at the Olympics. The former Mountaineer and her teammates on the Nigeria women’s basketball team are the first-ever African team to make an Olympic quarter-final.

Nigeria beat Canada 79-70 on Sunday to continue the country’s historic run in Paris. Ejiofor played only six minutes in the game, but did snag a couple rebounds.

Nigeria is the first African team men's or women's to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in basketball‼️👏 pic.twitter.com/DzUxEX6Uaq

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 4, 2024

Initially, the 2024 Summer Olympics marked Nigeria’s first Olympic win in 20 years, but now the country has a real chance at claiming a medal.

At the start of the tournament, Ejiofor and Nigeria shocked Australia 73-62 in what was characterized as one of the biggest Olympics upsets ever at the time.

Ejiofor scored two points on one basket in seven minutes played off the bench in the win over Australia. She also recorded a steal in that game.

Keeping close tabs on one of their own, the WVU women’s basketball program honored Ejiofor with and her team with a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

History has been written for team Nigeria!@blesnkings and team Nigeria are the first-ever African team to make the Olympic quarter-final!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/MvnnuOXQdj

— WVU Women's Basketball (@WVUWBB) August 4, 2024

“History has been written for team Nigeria! Blessing Ejifor and team Nigeria are the first-ever African team to make the Olympic quarter-final!,” said WVU in the post.