Mfon displaying her gifts

Mfon has quite a few gifts that she lends to Nigeria.

The 28-year-old is tall at 6ft 2in, and has shooting and rebounding skills which give the side a strong presence in the low post.

The victories have so far evaded Nigeria with narrow losses to Australia, Japan and Greece, but Mfon and Nigeria have shown under coach Sam Vincent they may be a force in the near future, maybe in time for 2006 FIBA World Championships in Brazil.

"We wanted to come here and do well but haven't," Mfon told PA International.

"We just keep falling a little short.

"We're young and inexperienced. We're trying hard just just falling short.

As long as we give the effort. It's still difficult to lose, but you can't hang your head."

Mfon, a native of Portland, Oregon, can play for Nigeria because her father, Vitalis, hails from the country.

After a collegiate career at Depaul, where she averaged more than 20 points and almost 12 rebounds a game as a senior, she had a spell in 1998 with the WNBA's Detroit Shock.

In 1999, Nigeria wanted her to take part in the All African Games in Johannesburg but a serious knee injury prevented her from doing so.

It also scuppered her plans of going to Portugal to play professionally.

While rehabilitating from her injury, Mfon made the most of her time by completing her college degree at Depaul in 2000.

After returning to fitness and making professional stops in China and Israel, she returned to the WNBA and turned out for the Houston Comets, who are led by Team USA women's boss Van Chancellor.

She has also this year played for Nigeria, and what a year it's been. 

At the African Championships for Women in Mozambique, Mfon and her country won the title to qualify for Athens.

She gets emotional when looking back.

"It was tough, we were in the middle of nowhere," she said. "It was hot, there were flies everywhere. We battled.

"I had an ankle sprain, a severe ankle sprain. "We made it out of our bracket and into the semis, played Angola and beat them and played Mozambique in front of 9,000 screaming fans.

"We're down the last three minutes, but we won. That was the biggest thing that's ever happened to me. It was amazing. Just the fight our team had.

We'd been down and kept fighting and fighting and were able to overcome them. Just the realisation that you're going to the Olympics was a lot to take in."

The Athens Games isn't just about wins and losses for Mfon and her team. 

Their presence at the Games is giving the game a higher profile back in Nigeria and Africa.

"It's a great thing to be in the Olympics and have a women's team from Nigeria," she said. "To help them realise we can play, hopefully it will keep everything improving."

The Athens Games off the court have been magnificent for Mfon so far.

"I'm definitely able to enjoy the Olympics, meeting athletes from all over the world, being in the Olympic Village and feeling the spirit of the Games," she said. 

But the greatest desire is to make an impact back in Africa.

"We're trying to build a programme, give people exposure, send some kids to college," Mfon said. "Hopefully this will make basketball better there but it's going to take time. It doesn't happen overnight."

From Jeff Taylor, PA International, Athens Exclusively for FIBA