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The U.S. women’s basketball team continued its winning streak with a 100-46 victory over Nigeria on Friday (February 9) at the Sports Palace in Antwerp, Belgium. Every member of Team USA who participated in the game scored, with Jewell Lloyd leading the scoring. 18 points.
Lloyd said the team discussed what they wanted to focus on after Thursday’s win over Belgium. This match was an opportunity for them to hone their teamwork.
“We had a discussion after the game. The players are just figuring out what we want to work on and how to communicate better with each other. It started today, we just kept talking the whole time we were filming. You can never over-communicate. So for us, it’s just making sure we’re talking about the first point and then just being there for each other, and that’s definitely what we saw and felt today. ” Lloyd said.
The Americans began to pick up the pace early in the second quarter, defeated Nigeria 32-7. The first half ended with Sabrina Ionescu’s buzzer-beating three-shot, putting an exclamation point on the first half that showed the depth of the American team.
There was no pressure on the U.S. to win the game, as they won the 2022 World Cup and had already earned a spot in Paris 2024. They are currently 2-0 in this tournament, but more importantly, they are starting to get to know each other. All of the U.S. members play on WNBA teams, and some have played together in the WNBA, in college, and in games overseas, but they don’t have many opportunities to play together.
“We understand that many countries cannot spend months together with all the things they have to do, especially training for events. So we understand how difficult it is. We all know each other, but we play each other differently. We talked about it being our pride and that we need to accelerate that process. , and we do that through communication and connection,” said U.S. coach Sheryl Reeve.
Nigeria aims to be “brave”
Nigeria defeated Senegal on Thursday, making them 1-1 in the tournament. They are the defending champions of AfroBasket and still qualify to earn a spot in Paris 2024 based on the results of the remaining matches of the tournament. For Ditigres, these games were a chance for his team to get stronger.
Nigeria coach Lena Wakama has previously said she chose the word “brave” to focus on as her team prepares for the tournament. Although the U.S. got off to a strong start, she said the team showed some bravery in the second half.
“This shows that we have some fight and they can respond to some coaching. But it has to come from the tip. And sometimes by the time you get into a hole it’s too late. Yes, it happened,” Wakama said.
The Antwerp team will have a day off on Saturday before returning to the court for the final match of the tournament on Sunday. The United States will play Senegal, while Nigeria will play host Belgium.
*National Olympic Committees have exclusive authority to represent their countries at the Olympic Games, so an athlete’s participation in the Paris Games depends on whether the NOC selects the athlete to represent the delegation to the Paris 2024 Games. It depends on you.
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