VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France — U.S. Team Coach Cheryl Reeve knows all about dynasties: Her Minnesota Lynx won four WNBA championships from 2011-2017, and four of her players played key roles on the gold medal team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she was an assistant coach.
So it must be quite comforting and, in some ways, familiar for Reeve to look down at her bench in France and see the four starters for the two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
On Sunday night, the nucleus of one of the most dominant WNBA teams in recent memory led Team USA to an 87-68 victory over Germany in the final game of the group stage.
The game was fairly even for the first 15 minutes (Germany was leading after the first quarter), but midway through the second quarter, just a minute after the U.S. took its first lead of the game with a layup by Alyssa Thomas, Reeve brought A'ja Wilson back onto the court to join Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. With the Aces' core on the court, the U.S. finished the first half up 17-7.
And the substitution of Plum for Young midway through the third quarter (Wilson was already on the court) gave Team USA instant energy on offense, and although Germany had cut the deficit to 10, they ended the third quarter up 20-7.
It was an especially effective night for Young, who scored a team-high 19 points and made 7-of-13 shots, including 8 from 3-point range. Young played just over 20 minutes combined in the first two games and only took one 3-pointer in the opening game against Japan. Young's 3-pointer was especially meaningful for USA, as the group has struggled with long-range shooting throughout the tournament, and excluding Young's performance against Germany, USA shot just 23.6 percent from 3-point range in their group stage matches.
Geno Auriemma, head coach of the 2016 team that featured four Lynx players, knows the benefits of the chemistry Team USA now enjoys with its Aces.
“Having players on a team that play together, win together and have great chemistry is invaluable to a coach and a team that doesn't have a lot of practice time to prepare,” he said. “Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen have all been really great to have around as individuals.”
The U.S. finished with a 3-0 record in group play. After Australia ended the hosts' unbeaten streak, the U.S. will enter the knockout games as the No. 1 seed. The U.S. will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, seeking to win its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal since Barcelona 1992.
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(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images)
