The U.S. Women's Basketball Team is more star-studded than their attire. Between Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and many more, the U.S. will be hard-pressed to find an opponent that gives them a run for their money. They aren't unbeatable though. After all, they did just lose to the WNBA All-Star team.
This is a team that hasn't played together much. Any competition they get right now is a means of learning to gel before the games start to matter. Tonight, it was Germany. Yesterday, the American men took care of business against the Germans by a score of 92-88. Tonight, the women were able to do the same, in an even more dominant fashion, winning 84-57.
Here are the highlights from the team's final exhibition game before the Olympics.
The United States' next game will be in the Olympics. Their first game is scheduled for July 29, at 3 p.m. ET against Japan.
Meet Team USA: See which athletes made the U.S. Olympic team and where they are from
The other games on the United States' schedule include an August 1 showdown against Belgium and a rematch against Germany slated for August 4.
Even with Kelsey Plum out of the game, Thomas has been the recipient of several of the best Team USA passes, including this dime from Jackie Young:
Ionescu had yet to make an impact on the scoresheet, but after a slow start to the fourth, Ionescu would get the scoring going with what she does best: hitting a contested three-pointer.
Ionescu would also secure the fourth and fifth points of the quarter, sinking two free throws a minute later.
The third quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter for the United States thus far, but they still managed to increase their lead to 14 points. A'ja Wilson has dominated the glass, with nearly three times as many rebounds (14) as the next closest American (Alyssa Thomas, 5).
With two minutes to go in the third quarter, Plum has found a nice connection with Alyssa Thomas. The two have connected on a few buckets recently, including two off very nice feeds from Plum, who has assumed the facilitator role.
Clearly the break didn't do much to slow Wilson down. Wilson came out the gates firing, with five points in less than three minutes, capped off with this incredible and-one off the feed from Breanna Stewart.
Wilson has been playing like the best player on the planet, showing why she is a two-time WNBA MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. At the half, Wilson already had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Compared to the first quarter, the second quarter felt like a dominant effort from Germany. That said, the Germans only gained one point on Team USA. Even when Team USA is not playing their best, they're still capable of keeping up with strong teams.
Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson have combined for 23 points early on as Team USA heads into the second half with a sizable lead.
Germany may have had the upper hand from beyond the arc in the second quarter, but the Americans got some good looks of their own. Toward the end of the quarter, Chelsea Gray had a phenomenal look from very deep to keep Team USA's lead at double digits heading into the second half.
After a quick three-pointer to start the second frame, Germany was swarming the Americans on offense, outshooting Team USA 5-2, and outscoring them 7-2 through the first three minutes.
While Team USA was able to break out of the funk with a three-pointer of their own, Germany answered back with a nice feed under the basket to Lina Sontag for an easy two-pointer.
That was quickly followed up with a steal from Leonie Fiebich for an easy transition layup. All of a sudden, the United States' massive lead was shrunk to seven.
If there were any questions how this team would fare after falling to the WNBA All-Stars, they were squashed early in this game. The United States got out to a monstrous 22-9 lead after one quarter.
Standing at 6'4", A'ja Wilson is a menace to all athletes who stand against her. That was very apparent early on in this game as Wilson was able to sprint past defenders and get great looks near the hoop thanks to great looks from her teammates. Just look at this feed from Chelsea Gray:
Even at 42 years old, five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi wasted no time getting the scoring going. Less than a minute into the contest, Taurasi earned the first bucket of the game with a three-pointer from the left side of the arc.
Taurasi's three sparked a 9-2 run to start the game for Team USA.
How to watch:Catch Team USA Basketball Showcase with Fubo
Group A:
Group B:
Group C:
The 2024 Paris Olympics start on July 24 and run through August 11.
TV: Games broadcast across NBC, USA Network, E!, Telemundo, CNBC
Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Action begins on July 29 with an exhibition taking place on July 23.
For the men, here is how the early games shake out.
Since women's basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1976, the United States has medaled in every Olympics they have competed in (they didn't compete in 1980 due to a nationwide Olympic boycott).
In total, the U.S. women's basketball team has won eleven medals – 9 gold, one silver (1976), and one bronze (1992). The U.S. women have won seven straight gold medals dating back to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Indiana Fever star guard and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark is not on the U.S. women's basketball team. The reason for this is likely one of two reasons: Clark is inexperienced on the international stage and U.S. women's team spots are usually given to veterans, and/or Clark's participation in March Madness for Iowa this year did not enable to her to attend U.S. training camp. Her absence likely played a large role in the selection committee's decision to not choose her for the team.
The U.S. women's national team game against Germany will take place at the O2 Arena in London.
While this squad went 3-0 in February qualifying, Team USA has played in only one exhibition game so far, a 117-109 loss to the WNBA All-Stars. Arike Ogunbowale led all scorers with 34 points, a WNBA All-Star game record, en route to All-Star MVP.
While this may seem concerning, the WNBA All-Star game has had this format once before (2021). In that instance, the All-Stars also won, 93-85. Ogunbowale was the MVP of that game as well. Team USA would still go on to win gold though.
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
One of the most dominant players in the WNBA today, Wilson has won MVP in two of the last four seasons, earned Defensive Player of the Year honors each of the last two seasons, and has never finished any of her six full seasons lower than eighth in MVP voting.
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Even at 42 years old, Taurasi is as good as they come in the WNBA. She is a leader through and through and has been a part of every women's Olympic team since her rookie season in 2004.
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Taurasi's teammate, Griner is a force to be reckoned with on the court. Standing at 6'9", Griner's sheer size makes her unguardable in some games. Oh, and despite standing at nearly seven feet, she's still shot over 30% from three for her career.
Lina Sontag, UCLA
That's right. The Germans have a college athlete on their national team. Sontag helped the UCLA Bruins to a Sweet 16 berth, and while she is not the most prolific scorer, she is a very good rebounder, snagging over two rebounds a game during the Pac-12 tournament this past year, while playing less than 15 minutes per game.
Satou Sabally, Shandong
Sabally is a deadly three-point shooter, hitting 34.7% of her shots from beyond the arc with Shandong. While Sabally has struggled to find her stroke in two games with the German national team (shooting 1-of-11 from three), it only means she's due for a monster performance when it matters.
Although she has played for Shandong most recently, Sabally is also a forward for the Dallas Wings during the WNBA season, but has sat out the entire year thus far with a shoulder injury. She will suit up for Germany in the Olympics though.
Travis Pulver, WSN: US to win gold in Paris
Pulver writes, "There is no need to be concerned about the tight game against Belgium in the qualifiers. The team only got together for a few days before the qualifying tournament began, and they got to open against the host team (who was fired up and ready to make a statement in front of a home crowd). Once they worked the kinks out in that game, they crushed Nigeria (100-46) and Senegal (101-39)."
Rusty Gorelick, bet365: USA to beat Germany
Gorelick points out, "Eight of the top 10 WNBA players in points per game - A'ja Wilson, Kahleah Copper, Jewell Lloyd, Napheesa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum - are on the Team USA Olympics roster. Wilson leads the WNBA in points, rebounds and blocks per game averages, and she is the only Team USA player in the WNBA's top 20 players in terms of three-point percentage. Wilson, Collier and Stewart make up the top three, listed in order, in WNBA defensive win shares."
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