Nigeria's women's basketballers upbeat about Rio Olympics ticket

Nigeria's women's basketball team are ready to book a ticket for the Rio Olympics before the qualifying tournament opens next month in France.

The national team, also known as Nigeria's Tigress, will play in Group C against South Korea and Belarus during the tournament held between June 13-19 in Nantes, France.

Helen Ogunjimi, a representative of the Tigress, told Xinhua that Nigeria would stop at nothing to qualify for the Olympics.

"Everybody wants to win and everybody wants to go to the Olympics. Our expectations are that we will make it in the top five from the qualifiers," Ogunjimi said on Tuesday.

Sarah Ogoke, another key player of the team, said hard work will see the Nigerian Tigress through.

"For us to secure a ticket to Rio, we all need to perform as a collective unit. We need to remain cohesive through ups and downs of each match," she added.

Nigeria is currently ranked 42nd in the FIBA women's world rankings.