BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nigeria women's basketball on Sunday became the first African team — men's or women's — to reach the quarterfinals at the Summer Olympics.
And yes, there's a Western New York connection. Adebola Adeyeye played four seasons at the University at Buffalo, arriving on campus in the fall of 2018 and leaving in spring of 2022.
Adeyeye played in 116 games for the Bulls, starting in 83 of them. The 6-foot, 2-inch forward from Brampton, Ontario, averaged 4.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Adeyeye's final game with the Bulls came in the first round NCAA Tournament, an 80-67 loss to Tennessee that was also the last game for Felisha Legette-Jack. The longtime UB coach left weeks later to take the head coaching job at Syracuse.
Now, Adeyeye is on a Nigeria basketball team that just made history. Nigeria beat Canada 79-70 to become the first African team to make it past pool play. She played 3 minutes, 24 seconds in the victory and did not attempt a shot.
Ezinne Kalu scored 21 points to lead Nigeria in its second victory of the tournament. Nigeria scored the first 11 points in the second half against Canada and didn't look back.
“It means a lot, you know, not just to us as a team, but to the entire world of Africa,” Kalu told media after the game. "It only gets harder from here."
The next game for Nigeria is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday against Team USA. Other quarterfinal matchups include Germany vs. France, Spain vs. Belgium, and Serbia vs. Australia.
The semifinals will be played on Friday, and the medal games will be played next Sunday.