Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Jackie Young lead USA basketball previous Nigeria in Olympic quarterfinals

For a second there, it seemed like Nigeria might pose an actual risk to Team USA. Ezinne Kalu, one of many breakout stars of the match, was seemingly hitting every little thing, and Nigeria was solely down by 5 factors halfway by means of the second quarter. Then, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson occurred, USA discovered its offensive footing, and the remainder was historical past.

The U.S went a run to shut the primary half and take a 21-point lead heading into halftime. And identical to that, Nigeria grew to become the most recent Olympic group to be on the fallacious finish of a blowout. Nigeria trailed by 20+ for a lot of the second half, earlier than ending the sport on a 27-6 run. Team USA’s balanced and environment friendly offense proved an excessive amount of for Nigeria to beat — USA shot 62% from the sector, and each single participant scored.

The victory pushes the U.S. ladies one step nearer to their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, and additional cements simply how tough will probably be for any group within the discipline to beat America.

Here’s what went down within the quarterfinals showdown between the U.S. and Nigeria — trace: there’s a complete lot of déjà vu.

Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson dominate (once more)

The quarterfinals matchup between USA and Nigeria adopted an identical script to lots of Team USA’s video games up to now within the Paris Olympics. For some time, it appeared like Nigeria — powered by Promise Amukamara (19 factors), Ezinne Kalu (16 factors) and Amy Okonkwo (17 factors) — might dangle round.

Then, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart as soon as once more shaped the unstoppable frontcourt duo they’ve been all through the whole lot of those video games. In this one, it was Wilson who led the best way with 20 factors on Sep 11 taking pictures, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and a pair of blocks. Stewart added 13 factors (5-7 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a pair of blocks.

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE through Getty Images

Teams have been capable of finding a solution to coping with Wilson-Stewart duo, and Nigeria — which has no gamers taller than 6’ 2 within the lineup — was no exception. Both American star publish gamers are 6’ 4, whereas Brittney Griner, who added 11 factors off the bench, is 6’ 8. Their sheer measurement far outmatched Nigeria’s, and it definitely didn’t damage that Stewart hit 2 of three three-pointers, both.

A’ja Wilson grew to become the primary American participant since Candace Parker in 2012 to complete with a minimum of three double-doubles in a single Olympics. She’s at present the second-leading scorer within the match.

Stewart completed with a team-best plus-minus of +27, whereas Wilson completed a +26.

Jackie Young continues her robust play

Earlier in pool play, it appeared that Aces guard Jackie Young was one of many gamers on the backside of the rotation. But Young — a defensive stalwart — had a breakthrough offensive sport on Sunday towards Germany, exploding for 19 factors. Rather than that being a one-off affair, she was subsequently inserted into the beginning lineup instead of Diana Taurasi towards Nigeria, and continued her environment friendly scoring. She ending with 15 factors on 6-10 taking pictures, 3 rebounds, and a pair of assists. She was a +24 in her 18 minutes of play.

Young, Wilson, and Stewart have been the one gamers on USA’s roster to complete with a plus-minus greater than +17.

Next up, the U.S. ladies’s basketball group takes on Australia

The victory over Nigeria marked the USA’s 59th consecutive Olympic basketball win in, a streak that continues to be unmatched in skilled sports activities. On Friday at 3pm ET, the U.S. will face Australia within the semifinals. A win in that sport would assure a spot within the Gold Medal Game on Sunday, whereas a loss would ship them to the Bronze Medal Game.

Australia has recovered nicely from a gradual begin within the match, defeating Serbia 85-67 within the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. Australia’s roster is inundated with WNBA expertise, headlined by Ezi Magbegor (Storm), Alanna Smith (Lynx), Stephanie Talbot (Sparks), Jade Melbourne (Mystics), Sami Whitcomb (Storm), and Kristy Wallace (Indiana).

Sami Whitcomb has been Australia’s main scorer all through the Olympics, averaging 14.8 factors on 50% taking pictures, whereas Alanna Smith has averaged 12.3 factors on 55.9% taking pictures. Magbegor, a WNBA defensive participant of the yr candidate, has anchored Australia’s protection, however has been surprisingly quiet offensively.

The sheer quantity of WNBA gamers on Australia’s roster offers them a extra doubtless pathway to victory than most Olympic opponents — however this is identical Australia group that opened up Olympic play with a loss to Nigeria. It’d be tough to wager towards USA in any matchup, however Australia needs to be positioned to up a battle nearly as good as anybody.