By DOUG FEINBERG
PARIS (AP) — The U.S. made a change in its starting lineup, inserting Jackie Young for Diana Taurasi, to try to get off to a better start.
It paid immediate dividends as the Americans started strong and beat Nigeria 88-74 on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Paris Games, extending their winning streak to 59 consecutive Olympic games.
Taurasi said coach Cheryl Reeve told her Tuesday of the lineup change.
“I think it’s the first game I’ve ever come off the bench since ’04,” the six-time Olympian said.
It was indeed the first time Taurasi hadn’t started an Olympic contest since the 2004 Athens Games. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer said winning gold was all that mattered to her.
“I mean, that’s really the only thing that’s important, you know?” Taurasi said. “And you know, this team’s just evolving and today was good in certain spots. And there’s still things we’ll get better at for the next game.”
Reeve said the staff has been evaluating the roster since the WNBA All-Star Game last month in Phoenix.
“Just accumulate information about our roster, you know, gave opportunities in different places,” she said of the lineup change. “Then when we got to the medal rounds that we will be locking in on a solid rotation.”
Up next is a familiar opponent, Australia, in the semifinals on Friday night. The Opals routed Serbia 85-67. The other medal-round game will feature host France playing Belgium. The Americans haven’t lost since the 1992 Barcelona Games and are two victories away from an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal.
Young made the most of the start, scoring 15 points, and also was a defensive stopper.
“I know that’s kind of my role in the team. You know, come in and be aggressive on the defensive end,” she said. “Be physical, get stops. And you know that kind of gets us playing in transition on the offensive end.”
A’ja Wilson scored 20 points and Breanna Stewart added 13 for the Americans, who led 26-17 after the first quarter — the first time they had a lead after one quarter since the opening win over Japan.
“Our starts have to be great because the team on the other end is trying to take our head off,” Wilson said. “They want something. They’re greedy for it. So we knew that coming in. We had to have a great start and punch first because in this time it’s kind of like March Madness. You never know what happens. And you kind of have to always keep your guard up.”
Young had five points early before tweaking her ankle when she landed on a Nigeria player’s foot while shooting a jumper. Taurasi subbed in and hit her first shot — a 3-pointer from the top of the key — that made it 24-12 late in the first.
Nigeria hung around and was down only 31-27 before Wilson, Young and Kelsey Plum took over. The Las Vegas Aces trio scored the first 15 points, including eight by Wilson, during a 21-6 run to close the half that gave the Americans a 52-33 halftime cushion.
The U.S. kept the spurt going in the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points to give the Nigerians no hopes of a comeback.
Promise Amukamara scored 19 to lead Nigeria. Amy Okonkwo added 17, and Ezinne Kalu had 16.
The loss ended a historic run by Nigeria, which became the first African country to qualify for the Olympic basketball quarterfinals.
“It’s been everything. It’s a movement man for Nigeria and for Africa,” Nigeria coach Rena Wakama said. “I’ve been saying all this whole time we have so much talent. And I hope the world can see what we’re capable of doing if we invest in ourselves, invest in the youth in Africa, invest in sports we’re capable of being at the highest level.”
With this being the U.S. team’s first game in Paris, the contest drew some fellow Olympians including men’s team players LeBron James, Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker as well as American swimming greats Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. Members of the U.S. rowing team also were in attendance.
Taurasi and other U.S. players gave hugs to Phelps after the game.
“Yeah, that’s my boy. Our kids go to the same school. They’re in the same class. You know, it’s funny, (wife) Penny (Taylor) and I were taking Leo to class one day and we’re like, oh, we’re going to be the only gold medalist,” Taurasi said. “Show and tell. I’m going to bring my five gold medals. And we look back and Michael’s bringing in his little son into the same class and me and Penny just laughed. We spend a lot of time with them at school and for him to come and support, you know, he’s a legend.”
