After sweeping its way into the knockout stage of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the USA women’s basketball team faced Nigeria in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Led by a strong, balanced offensive attack, Team USA moved on with an 88–74 win.
The United States will face Australia in the semi-finals on Friday. Australia defeated Serbia 85–67 in their quarterfinal matchup.
The United States entered the game against Nigeria led by its two superstars, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, who were tied for third in the tournament in scoring with 20.3 points per game apiece. Those two combined to score 40 of the USA’s 92 points per game on average in the tournament’s first three games, and were the only two on the roster to average in double figures.
Nigeria was the final qualifying team in the field for the quarterfinals, getting in with only a plus-one scoring differential after finishing third in Group B. By comparison, the United States had a plus-58 scoring differential through three games in the group phase.
It came as little surprise that Wilson opened the scoring for the United States, but Nigeria answered with a layup from Promise Amukamara. From there, the play got sloppy. It took more than two minutes for the next basket to be scored, and that came from Stewart. But Nigeria once again quickly answered with a layup from Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah.
It took almost four minutes for the United States to find its offense again, and then Team USA started to roll. Napheesa Collier hit a jumper and Jackie Young turned defense into offense with two quick baskets to give the United States a six-point lead before Nigeria used its first timeout.
Ezinne Kalu was fouled by Chelsea Gray while attempting a 3-pointer after the pause and hit two of three free throws. But the United States went back to work and Stewart hit a three-pointer. Kalu answered with a two on the other end as both teams started to feel the flow of the game better after a slow start.
Brittney Griner came off the bench and came through with a big blocked shot, and Young was fouled on the other end. She went down and held her ankle before slowly getting back up. She made only one of the three free throws.
Stewart and Griner made baskets, with a layup from Kunaiyi-Akpanah in between, as the Americans’ lead continued to grow. Stewart went to the bench with 95 seconds left in the first quarter. Jewell Lloyd replaced her and converted a traditional three-point play before a Sabrina Ionescu steal turned into a 3 from Diana Taurasi.
Elizabeth Balogun hit a 3 for Nigeria before Ionescu hit two free throws in the closing seconds of the opening period. Amukamara hit a layup with four seconds left in the quarter to cut the lead to nine. After a slow start, the United States was starting to dominate and pull away.
Balogun opened the second quarter with a layup but then fouled Griner in the act of shooting on the other end. Griner made one of two at the stripe.
Kalu made a nice jumper in traffic as Nigeria tried to stay relatively close, drawing her team within six. But Nigeria already had six turnovers, thanks to the strong defensive effort and size advantage of the United States.
The game got sloppy again and a Kalu jumper cut the lead to four before Wilson answered with a jumper from the free throw line. Wilson made another from almost the same spot 30 seconds later to push the United States’ lead back to eight. After sitting for the first half of the second quarter, Stewart checked back into the game as the United States made wholesale lineup changes.
Kelsey Plum hit a 3 and then set up Wilson for a layup to get the U.S. lead back into double digits at 40–29.
Wilson was starting to take over the game, as did Young, who scored four straight points for the United States with two Kalu free throws in the middle to push the lead to 13. A Wilson steal led to a layup and the game was starting to get out of reach for Nigeria.
Stewart hit a 3 with 30 seconds left in the half and put in a layup in the final seconds to make the halftime score 52–33 in favor of the Americans. The United States closed the half on a 21–10 run that included six made free throws and only two made field goals from Nigeria in the final 7:31 of the second quarter.
As had been the trend in the tournament, the United States was led by Stewart (13 points) and Wilson (10) in the first half. Young added nine points. Stewart and Young were each a game-best plus-17. Wilson had a team-leading six rebounds in just under 14 minutes. The USA held a 22–10 advantage in points in the paint and its bench out-scored Nigeria’s 18–4 in the opening 20 minutes.
Kalu led Nigeria with 12 points and played the entire 20 minutes of the first half.
Collier, Young, and Wilson made baskets in the opening 72 seconds of the third quarter, leading Nigeria to take a quick timeout early in the second half as the lead expanded to 25 quickly. It took more than 80 seconds for either team to score again before Young made a layup.
It took 4:23 for Nigeria to record a point in the third quarter; Amukamara made a three to end a 10–0 run to open the half from the United States. Gray made a free throw, and Young made a layup to get those three points back, however. And Nigeria went more than another full minute without a point before Okonkwo hit a three.
After a Thomas free throw for the United States and Ebo making a jumper for Nigeria, Plum made her second 3 of the game. Griner then made a layup as the onslaught continued. The lead had reached 30 points.
Amukamara shaved three points off the Americans’ lead with 90 seconds left in the third before Griner knocked down a couple free throws. Kunaiyi-Akpanah was able to make a free throw, but Kahleah Copper hit a 3 on the following possession. Nigeria couldn’t afford to trade baskets, and couldn’t make a dent in the enormous lead.
Amukamara stole the ball and made a driving layup just before the buzzer to end a third quarter that was fully dominated by the United States. The Americans out-scored Nigeria 24–15 in the quarter and took a 28-point lead to the final 10 minutes.
What made the third quarter so stunning was the scoring came from everywhere except the United States’ two leading scorers. Wilson scored four points in the third and Stewart was held off the board completely. Young led the United States’ box score with 15 points at the end of the third. Wilson had another double-double, however, adding 10 assists to her 14 points.
Amukamara opened the scoring with a 3 to start the fourth quarter to continue her strong game. The basket gave her a team-leading 15 points to match the game’s high mark at that point.
Wilson hit a couple layups in the middle stages of the fourth quarter. After Amukamara made a jumper, Wilson knocked down two free throws. Points were coming easy for the WNBA superstar.
Kunaiyi-Akpanah made a layup for Nigeria to keep the lead at 25. Thomas went to the free throw line and Wilson checked out of the game with 4:38 left. She had 20 points and 11 rebounds when she left the floor after playing 25:17 in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Okonkwo made four free throws and Murjanatu Musa made a 3 to cut the lead to 17 with 95 seconds left in the game. Full marks to Nigeria, which scored 11 unanswered points while the United States had it on cruise control. Collier made a layup to end the run for Nigeria with 47 seconds left in regulation.
The United States let the clock expire and advanced to the semi-finals with a huge win.
The United States was credited with 31 assists on 34 made field goals. Copper was the only player on the U.S. roster who did not pick up an assist in the game.
Four Americans finished in double figures in scoring, led by Wilson’s 20 points. Young (15), Stewart (13), and Griner (11) led the balanced attack.
