Women’s national team stays undefeated as it hands Germany its first loss

Somebody’s zero had to go prior to the start of the knockout round as part of this year’s Olympic games in Paris.

Team USA defeated Germany, 87-68, Sunday, Aug. 4 from the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in France. Entering play, both teams were undefeated through the first two games of group stage play.

Sunday’s meeting marked the end of group play for both countries as they shift their attention toward the next step toward gold. The quarterfinals are set to begin Wednesday, Aug. 7.

After making an impact and changing the team’s last outing with her defense, two-time WNBA champion Jackie Young turned heads in this one with her offense. Still with her tenacity on defense intact, the Notre Dame product pumped out a game-high 19 points off the bench on 7-of-13 from the field with five three-pointers.

Of those five threes, Young hit some big ones at timely moments for this year’s women’s national team. She drilled one to tie the game at 19 apiece and she’d hit another at the conclusion of the third quarter off an assist from Las Vegas Aces teammate Kelsey Plum.

The latter three capped a 10-0 run for the Americans heading into the fourth quarter.

Bench play as a whole was working for the US with timely plays coming from the reserves time-and-time again.

Reserve forward Kahleah Copper hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 22 early in the second quarter. That was one of her three treys on the night after receiving a DNP in the team’s last win against Belgium.

Fellow reserve forward Alyssa Thomas gave her team its first lead of the game as part of four straight points scored by her following Copper’s three. The gold medal favorites started the second quarter 16-5 over Germany and would ultimately build a first half lead as large as 13 points on an 11-0 run.

By the final buzzer, the Americans outscored the German bench, 52-13, while eventually leading by as many as 27 points.

Two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart added 14 and 13 points respectively on a combined 12-of-23 from the field. Both were kept off of the boards with both teaming for six total rebounds in the 40 minutes played.

Wilson and Stewart were both tasked with the defensive responsibility on WNBA all-star Satou Sabally, who was averaging 25 points per game entering play. Heading into the fourth quarter, she was handcuffed to just 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting before finishing with 15 points on 33% from the floor.