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LAS VEGAS – The U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team was in uncharted territory after losing two straight exhibition games for the first time in a decade.
The Americans rebounded with a solid effort to beat Nigeria 93-62 on Sunday in the final pre-Olympic tune-up for both teams.
“It feels good,” said US coach Dawn Staley. “To go out and play like we did on both sides of basketball. We shared it, got the ball for our big guys. We made a concerted effort to do it. I think everyone in the locker room feels good to be able to impact the game in different ways. “
A’ja Wilson scored 16 points and Breanna Stewart added 14 to lead the United States, which lost back-to-back exhibition games for the first time since 2011 with losses to the WNBA All-Stars and Australia this week.
“Nobody wants to be on the losing team,” Wilson said. “I was kind of like, ‘Uh-oh.’ People talk and jump the gun, say anything and everything. The vets were like, “It’s okay. It’s part of the game – we’ll be back. ”The coach came in today and said we’re getting back to our dominance and that has helped me feel a little more at ease. The people we have in the locker rooms are so talented. We know what we were doing. “
The Americans got off to a good start with a 20-4 lead. After shooting 2 for 18 from behind the 3-point arc in the loss to Australia, the United States hit the ball inside early and often against Nigeria. The first 10 points came from Wilson and Brittney Griner.
The United States led 29-15 after a quarter while Stewart had 10 points. Griner took over in the second quarter to help the Americans extend their lead to 55-34 at halftime. Nigeria never raced in the second half against the United States, who missed Diana Taurasi for the third consecutive exhibition game as she recovers from a hip injury.
She said on Saturday she would be ready for the Olympics.
Nigeria’s roster is still undetermined for the Olympics starting next week as the African nation tries to bring in Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams. Williams played for Nigeria in the exhibition match, while Ogwumike and her sister Chiney, who was approved to play as a naturalized player for Nigeria, were on the bench but not in uniform.
Erica Ogwumike, the youngest of the four Ogwumike sisters, had five points for Nigeria. Atonye Nyingifa scored nine points to lead the team.
Nigeria are a growing team, reaching the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals before falling to the United States.
These two teams will face off at the Olympics on July 27.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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