Sports

U. S. females's hoops crushes Nigeria, hits Olympic semis

.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA writer considering that 2010.Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years.Author of pair of booksPARIS-- The blend of A'ja Wilson as well as Breanna Stewart has shown to become a devasting mixture for the Crew USA females, relevant where there is actually a situation developing that they could possibly share the Olympics A lot of Prized Possession Gamer Award.But there's a brand-new duo surfacing, though certainly not an astonishing one, that's confirmed to be a large improvement as the Americans work toward another gold medal.Las Vegas Aces teammates Kelsey Plum and also Jackie Young have actually boosted to become difference-makers in France and participated in essential jobs in Crew United States's 88-74 victory over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It denoted the staff's 59th successive Olympic victory and also sets up a semifinal match against Australia, champions over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Young completed with double-digit factors for the second upright game, shooting 60% from the field in the USA' sway Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve moved Young into the beginning sequence in place of expert Diana Taurasi against Nigeria, a staff recognized for playing higher tension full-court protection that challenges setting against guards.It was a reward after Young racked up 19 factors with 4 steals off the seat in the ultimate swimming pool play activity versus Germany. She responded along with one more excellent performance, enjoying with energy at both points along with one more Aces colleague, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young racked up 15 factors and assisted carry the united state outburst early in the activity as the Americans got off to a little a lethargic start through their standards.Nigeria was behind through simply 4 factors midway via the second fourth. That's when Reeve went to Plum, that was actually the 12th and final player to get into the ready the Americans. Plum quickly modified the activity along with her death as well as velocity on the offending point, serving up 3 easy helps and toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum completed with just 6 aspects however her six-minute switch to end up the 1st half led to a plus-11 on the scoreboard to drive the lead to 19 at fifty percent. The USA at that point started the second one-half on a 15-0 run and the stress and anxiety was provided for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson as well as Stewart, that came into the video game balancing a matching 20.3 scores every activity, played their company of professional tormenter sphere. Wilson invested 20 points on 9-of-11 firing with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Stewart had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds as well as three assists.Brittney Griner came off the seat to credit rating 11 ideas on 4-of-5 firing. Those three interior markers mixing for 16-of-21 is hard to beat.The U.S. went into the activity balancing 29 supports and once again put on a ball-sharing center through constructing 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the top to as reduced as 13 in the fourth quarter, with 19 points. The activity finished along with a little upper hand when the USA's Kahleah Copper received a technological repulsive for throwing the ball at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she scored in the last few seconds.