Sports

U. S. females's hoops squashes Nigeria, reaches Olympic semis

.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Elderly Person WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA article writer due to the fact that 2010.Dealt With Cleveland Cavs for 7 years.Author of 2 booksPARIS-- The mixture of A'ja Wilson as well as Breanna Stewart has verified to be a devasting combination for the Team U.S.A. females, relevant where there is a case building that they might discuss the Olympics Most Belongings Player Award.But there is actually a brand-new duo surfacing, though not a shocking one, that is actually verified to be a big boost as the Americans work toward one more gold medal.Las Vegas Aces teammates Kelsey Plum as well as Jackie Young have stepped up to be difference-makers in France as well as participated in essential duties in Crew USA's 88-74 success over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It marked the team's 59th consecutive Olympic triumph and also establishes a semifinal matchup against Australia, champions over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Youthful do with double-digit points for the second straight activity, firing 60% coming from the industry in the United States' get Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve moved Youthful into the starting sequence instead of pro Diana Taurasi versus Nigeria, a group known for participating in higher pressure full-court self defense that challenges opposing guards.It was actually a reward after Young racked up 19 points along with four swipes off the seat in the ultimate pool play video game against Germany. She reacted with one more exceptional functionality, playing with energy at each points together with yet another Aces colleague, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young scored 15 aspects and assisted hold the USA offense early in the activity as the Americans got off to a little bit of a sluggish begin by their standards.Nigeria lagged by just four factors midway via the 2nd one-fourth. That's when Reeve mosted likely to Plum, who was the 12th and also ultimate gamer to enter into the game for the Americans. Plum right away altered the activity along with her passing away and velocity on the repulsive end, serving up three easy supports as well as toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum do with only 6 factors yet her six-minute change to end up the 1st one-half resulted in a plus-11 on the scoreboard to drive the lead to 19 at fifty percent. The U.S. after that began the second fifty percent on a 15-0 operate as well as the stress and anxiety was actually created for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson as well as Stewart, that entered into the activity balancing a matching 20.3 scores per game, played their company of experienced bully sphere. Wilson placed in twenty aspects on 9-of-11 capturing along with 11 rebounds and also two blocks. Stewart possessed thirteen aspects on 5-of-7 firing with 5 rebounds as well as 3 assists.Brittney Griner went over the seat to score 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Those 3 internal scorers integrating for 16-of-21 is actually difficult to beat.The U.S. entered the game balancing 29 aids as well as once more put on a ball-sharing facility through constructing 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the top to as low as thirteen in the fourth one-fourth, along with 19 scores. The activity finished with a little bit of edge when the united state's Kahleah Copper got a specialized repulsive for tossing the ball at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she scored in the last few seconds.

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