VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve is no stranger to dynasties. From 2011 to 2017, her Minnesota Lynx won four WNBA championships. And during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where Reeve was an assistant, four of her players played key roles for the gold medal squad.
So, it’s probably a pretty comforting — and in a way, a familiar — feeling for Reeve to look down her bench now in France and see four starters for the Las Vegas Aces, the defending two-time WNBA champs.
Sunday night, it was a core from the most dominant WNBA team in recent memory — go figure — that propelled Team USA to an 87-68 win over Germany in the team’s final group stage game.
Through the first 15 minutes, the game was pretty even (Germany even led after the first quarter), but midway through the second quarter — just a minute after Team USA took its first lead of the game with an Alyssa Thomas layup — Reeve re-inserted A’ja Wilson onto the floor, where she joined Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. With the Aces core on the floor, Team USA closed out the first half on a 17-7 run.
Again, in the third quarter, midway through, a Plum-Young substitution (with Wilson already on the floor) spelled instant offensive energy for Team USA as the squad — which had allowed Germany to cut its lead to 10 — ended the third quarter on a 20-7 run.
It was a particularly effective night for Young, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Through the first two games, Young had played a total of just more than 20 minutes and attempted only one shot — a 3-pointer against Japan in the opener. Her success from behind the arc is especially significant for Team USA considering the group has struggled from range through the tournament, excluding Young’s performance against Germany, Team USA shot just 23.6 percent from beyond the arc through the group stage games.
Geno Auriemma, head coach of the 2016 team that featured four Lynx players, knows the benefits of the chemistry Team USA is currently enjoying with its Aces.
“Anytime you have a group of players who have played together and won together and have great chemistry it’s invaluable to a coach and as to a team that doesn’t have much practice time to prepare,” he said. “As individuals Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen were just incredible to be with.”
Team USA finished group play with a 3-0 record. With Australia spoiling the host nation’s hopes for an undefeated run, the U.S. will enter knockout play as the No. 1 seed. Team USA’s quarterfinal game is Wednesday, continuing their quest for an eighth straight Olympic gold medal dating back to the Barcelona 1992 Games.
Required reading
(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / Getty Images)
