Team USA ends Nigeria’s historic run, advances to Paris Olympics semifinals

Wednesday marked the beginning of the elimination round for women’s Olympic basketball in Paris, and the US earned the top overall seed. They drew the Cinderella team of the tournament in the quarterfinals — Nigeria.

With a chance to make history, the Nigerian team took the court against the gold standard of women’s hoops. Although they did not prevail, they put up a fight, and their run was both inspirational and a disclaimer — African women’s basketball has arrived.

It’s no secret that the American team has come out sluggishly in each of its three group phase games. They had the same starting lineup in each of those games, so coach Cheryl Reeve opted to make a change.

She inserted Jackie Young into the starting lineup for Diana Taurasi, a move likely made in part due to Young’s defensive acumen. Her matchup was star scorer Ezinne Kalu, who needed to be kept in check if the US wanted to separate in the game. This means that three Aces players were in the starting lineup. 

Team USA has another slow start

After A’ja Wilson scored a bucket on the opening possession, the game hit a bit of a standstill. Chelsea Gray missed yet another open jump shot, as she is yet to make a basket outside of the paint in this Olympics. Kalu had trouble getting going as well, in large part due to Young’s stifling defense. 

After three minutes, the score was knotted up at 2-2 until Gray found Breanna Stewart for a basket to break the dry spell. Young missed her first attempt of the game but Wilson came up with a big offensive rebound that led to a US bucket. 

Then, Jackie Young started cooking again. After an uncharacteristic turnover, she got the ball back for Team USA and scored on two straight possessions: one on a step-through in the paint, the other a mid-range pullup. She did her thing on the defensive end too, causing three turnovers for Nigeria.

Nigeria hung tough though, down only four toward the end of the first quarter. Brittney Griner gave them all they could handle though, blocking and altering every shot within a ten-foot radius of the rim, and catching high-lows for easy US buckets. 

A flurry of buckets by Team USA pushed the lead to 12 at one point, and they clung to a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Aces too much for Nigeria in second quarter

After a long stretch to begin the period without any Aces players on the floor, A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum checked into the game, with the US only up four. Things exploded from here.’

Plum found Wilson for an easy midrange jumper, the first of her back to back buckets.

Jackie Young checked back into the game, and the team really started to roll.

Plum connected on a step back 3 to push the lead further, and on the following possession, Young hustled for an offensive rebound and passed it to Plum, who found Wilson for another bucket. 

Young grabbed another offensive board and was fouled on her putback attempt, but she made both free throws. She followed that up with a midrange pullup, and Wilson scored on the next possession to push the lead to 15. 

Wilson had a blocked shot and Young caused a turnover, finding Stewart for a fastbreak layup, giving the team a 52-33 halftime lead.

Third quarter brings more of the same

The second half began in a similar fashion to the way it ended: Jackie Young making a jump shot. Wilson continued to run the floor well and get easy buckets, and the lead ballooned to 25. Finally, Nigeria stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer, but not before the US put together a 10-0 run. 

Gray, despite her scoring struggles, had a series of head spinning passes that left viewers in awe. She also had a physical take to the rim where she earned a trip to the line, connecting on one free throw.

Wilson was called for yet another travel but responded with another easy transition layup. Young drove for an easy layup of her own as well.

Plum checked back into the game for Gray and picked up where she left off, drilling a 3-pointer off a ball screen. Young took a break, but Plum’s group pushed the lead to 76-48 at the end of the third.

US survives late run by Nigeria

The game seemed to be over as the final period began, but Nigeria would not go away. A small run by the opponent spurred coach Reeve to put A’ja Wilson back into the game, and she instantly scored two straight baskets, one on an impressive heave down court from Plum.

Gray subbed back in as well and immediately found Wilson down low, who was fouled and made both free throws. She threw up another bad shot, but she continued to manage the game incredibly well. 

Nigeria put together a 12-0 run toward the end of the game and outscored the US 26-12 in the game’s final quarter, but it was not enough as the US pulled away 88-74.

Wilson scored 20 points to pair with 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. 

Young scored 15 points to go with three rebounds and two assists, also keeping Kalu to 16 points, four of which were in the game’s final seconds when she was not in. She had been averaging nearly 20 points per game prior to this contest. 

Plum was incredibly efficient, scoring six points and recording four assists. Gray had one point and four assists as well.

Team USA is back in action on Friday in Paris as they take on Australia in the semifinals.