Sports

U. S. females's hoops squashes Nigeria, gets to Olympic partially

.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA writer since 2010.Dealt With Cleveland Cavs for seven years.Author of two booksPARIS-- The mix of A'ja Wilson and also Breanna Stewart has confirmed to become a devasting blend for the Crew United States ladies, relevant where there is actually a case developing that they could possibly share the Olympics A lot of Belongings Gamer Award.But there's a brand new duo arising, though certainly not a surprising one, that is actually verified to become a large boost as the Americans work toward another gold medal.Las Las vega Aces teammates Kelsey Plum and also Jackie Youthful have actually improved to become difference-makers in France and played essential tasks in Group United States's 88-74 triumph over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It denoted the team's 59th consecutive Olympic success and also establishes a semifinal matchup versus Australia, victors over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Young do with double-digit points for the second straight activity, shooting 60% from the field in the United States' win over Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve relocated Young in to the beginning sequence in place of expert Diana Taurasi against Nigeria, a team understood for participating in higher tension full-court self defense that tests opposing guards.It was actually an incentive after Young racked up 19 factors along with four steals off the bench in the last pool play game against Germany. She reacted with one more superb efficiency, having fun with electricity at each points together with one more Aces colleague, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young racked up 15 factors and assisted bring the USA offense early in the game as the Americans got off to a little a sluggish beginning by their standards.Nigeria was behind by just four points midway through the 2nd quarter. That is actually when Reeve went to Plum, that was actually the 12th and also final gamer to enter into the game for the Americans. Plum immediately modified the video game along with her passing and also rate on the annoying point, dispensing 3 easy aids and also toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum finished with just 6 points however her six-minute shift to complete the 1st fifty percent resulted in a plus-11 on the scoreboard to push the lead to 19 at half. The U.S. then started the 2nd half on a 15-0 operate and the stress was provided for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson and also Stewart, who came into the video game averaging a matching 20.3 scores every game, played their label of skillful oppressor ball. Wilson placed in 20 factors on 9-of-11 shooting along with 11 rebounds as well as pair of blocks. Stewart possessed 13 aspects on 5-of-7 capturing with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.Brittney Griner came off the bench to credit rating 11 points on 4-of-5 capturing. Those three indoor markers mixing for 16-of-21 is actually tough to beat.The USA got into the video game balancing 29 assists and also once more applied a ball-sharing center through assembling 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the top down to as low as thirteen in the 4th one-fourth, with 19 scores. The game finished along with a little bit of upper hand when the united state's Kahleah Copper acquired a technical foul for tossing the ball at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she scored in the ultimate few seconds.