Team USA continues quest for gold with 88-74 win over Nigeria
福田樹 2024/08/08 03:12
In its quest for an eighth consecutive and 10th overall Olympic gold medal, the U.S. women's basketball team kept rolling on Wednesday, defeating Nigeria 88-74 in the quarterfinals to clinch the program's 59th-straight Olympic win. For Team USA, it was much of the same: WNBA MVP front-runner A'ja Wilson recorded another 20-point, 10-rebound double-double -- her third of the Paris Games. It was also Wilson's fourth of her Olympic career, the most ever by a U.S. women's player.
Reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart also did it all with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. But there was one new and meaningful wrinkle: Aces star Jackie Young earned the start in place of Diana Taurasi, the six-time Olympian who had started for Team USA beginning with the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But the move paid off as Young, who had seen limited time off the bench earlier in the competition, finished with 15 points and a plus/minus of plus-24. The U.S. women raced ahead thanks to a 21-6 run in the second quarter and 10-0 spurt to start the third, leading by as many as 30 points before Nigeria closed the gap in garbage time. With Alyssa Thomas' six assists leading the way, Team USA sported 31 dimes on 34 baskets and shot 54% on the night. Up next: The Americans secured a semifinal meeting against Australia on Friday, an opponent they beat 79-55 in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Host France and neighboring Belgium will face off in the other semifinal, which should garner an enthusiastic crowd.
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