Las Vegas at Olympics: Ace gets call to start, powers US win — PHOTOS

PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team made a change in its starting lineup, inserting Aces guard Jackie Young for Diana Taurasi, to try to get off to a better start.

It paid immediate dividends as the Americans started strong and beat Nigeria 88-74 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Paris Games, extending their winning streak to 59 consecutive Olympic games.

Taurasi said coach Cheryl Reeve told her Tuesday of the lineup change.

“I think it’s the first game I’ve ever come off the bench since ’04,” the six-time Olympian said.

It was indeed the first time Taurasi hadn’t started an Olympic contest since the 2004 Athens Games. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer said winning gold was all that mattered to her.

“I mean, that’s really the only thing that’s important, you know?” Taurasi said. “And you know, this team’s just evolving, and today was good in certain spots. And there’s still things we’ll get better at for the next game.”

Reeve said the staff has been evaluating the roster since the WNBA All-Star Game last month in Phoenix.

“Just accumulate information about our roster, you know, gave opportunities in different places,” she said of the lineup change. “Then when we got to the medal rounds that we will be locking in on a solid rotation.”

Up next is Australia in the semifinals Friday. Australia routed Serbia 85-67 on Wednesday. In the other quarterfinals, France defeated Germany 84-71, and Belgium beat Spain 79-66.

The Americans haven’t lost since the 1992 Barcelona Games and are two victories away from an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal.

Young made the most of the start, scoring 15 points, and also was a defensive stopper.

“I know that’s kind of my role in the team. You know, come in and be aggressive on the defensive end,” she said. “Be physical, get stops. And you know that kind of gets us playing in transition on the offensive end.”

Aces star A’ja Wilson scored 20 points, and Breanna Stewart added 13 for the Americans, who led 26-17 after the first quarter — the first time they had a lead after one quarter since the opening win over Japan.

“Our starts have to be great because the team on the other end is trying to take our head off,” Wilson said. “They want something. They’re greedy for it. So we knew that coming in. We had to have a great start and punch first because in this time it’s kind of like March Madness. You never know what happens. And you kind of have to always keep your guard up.”

Young had five points early before tweaking her ankle when she landed on a Nigeria player’s foot while shooting a jumper. Taurasi subbed in and hit her first shot — a 3-pointer from the top of the key — that made it 24-12 late in the first.

Nigeria hung around and was down only 31-27 before Wilson, Young and Kelsey Plum took over. The Aces trio scored the first 15 points, including eight by Wilson, during a 21-6 run to close the half that gave the Americans a 52-33 halftime cushion.

The U.S. kept the spurt going in the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points to give the Nigerians no hopes of a comeback.

Promise Amukamara scored 19 to lead Nigeria. Amy Okonkwo added 17, and Ezinne Kalu had 16.

The loss ended a historic run by Nigeria, which became the first African country to qualify for the Olympic basketball quarterfinals.

With this being the U.S. team’s first game in Paris, the contest drew some fellow Olympians, including men’s team players LeBron James, Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker, as well as American swimming greats Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.

Wednesday’s other results

— Women’s basketball: Aces forward Megan Gustafson poured in 21 points with seven rebounds, but Spain fell to Belgium 79-66 in the quarterfinals. Belgium, which hit 50 percent of its 3-pointers (8-for-16), took control by outscoring Spain 22-11 in the second quarter.

— Women’s golf: Rose Zhang shot even-par 72 in the first round and sits in a tie for 13th, seven shots behind France’s Celine Boutier.

Thursday’s locals schedule

— Midnight: Women’s golf, second round, Rose Zhang (U.S.)

— 12:11 a.m.: Women’s taekwondo, 57-kilogram, round of 16 (Faith Dillon)*

*Taekwondo is one-day 16-person bracket; women’s 57kg final scheduled for 12:37 p.m.

Friday’s locals schedule

— Midnight: Women’s golf, third round, Zhang

— 8:30 a.m.: Women’s basketball, semifinal, U.S. (Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young) vs. Australia

Olympic TV schedule

THURSDAY

NBC

— 9 a.m.: Men’s beach volleyball, semifinal, Germany vs. Norway (live)

— 10 a.m.: Women’s diving, 3-meter springboard semifinal (replay)

— 10:35 a.m.: Track and field, finals (live)

— 1 p.m.: Men’s beach volleyball, semifinal, Qatar vs. Sweden (live)

— 2 p.m.: Women’s water polo, semifinal, U.S. vs. Australia (replay)

— 3 p.m.: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around qualification (replay)

— 4 p.m.: Canoe, kayak sprint finals (replay)

— 8 p.m.: Primetime in Paris (replays of track and field finals, men’s diving 3-meter springboard final and beach volleyball semifinals)

— 11:35 p.m.: Late Night (replays of men’s sport climbing speed final and canoe sprint finals)

E!

— 1 a.m.: Women’s diving, 3-meter springboard semifinal (live)

— 2:45 a.m.: Sport climbing, men’s speed, women’s combined (live)

— 4 a.m.: Canoe, kayak sprint finals (live)

— 5 a.m.: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around qualification (live)

— 6 a.m.: Men’s diving, 3-meter springboard final (live)

— 7:30 a.m.: Men’s sport climbing, speed final

— 8 a.m.: Women’s beach volleyball, semifinal, Switzerland vs. Canada (live)

— 9 a.m.: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around qualification

— Noon: Women’s beach volleyball, semifinal, Brazil vs. Australia (live)

— 1 p.m.: Women’s handball, semifinal, Norway vs. Denmark (live)

— 2 p.m.: Women’s volleyball, semifinal, Turkey vs. Italy

Golf Channel

— Midnight: Women’s golf, second round (live)

— 4 a.m.: Women’s golf, second round (live)

USA

— 12:35 a.m.: Table tennis, team quarterfinals

— 1 a.m.: Track and field, heats (live)

— 4 a.m.: Table tennis, team semifinals

— 5:30 a.m.: Women’s water polo, semifinal, Netherlands vs. Spain (live)

— 6:45 a.m.: Weightlifting, finals

— 7:15 a.m.: Taekwondo, finals

— 7:45 a.m.: Wrestling, eliminations

— 8:30 a.m.: Men’s basketball, semifinal, France vs. Germany (live)

— 10:30 a.m.: Women’s water polo, semifinal, U.S. vs. Australia (live)

— 11:45 a.m.: Men’s basketball, semifinal, U.S. vs. Serbia (live)

— 2 p.m.: Wrestling, finals

— 2:45 p.m.: Women’s sailing, kite final

— 3 p.m.: Women’s volleyball, semifinal, U.S. vs. Brazil

— 5 p.m.: Table tennis, team semifinals (replay)

— 6:30 p.m.: Men’s field hockey, gold medal game, Germany vs. Netherlands

— 7:30 p.m.: Cycling, women’s keirin, men’s omnium

— 8 p.m.: Women’s water polo, semifinal, U.S. vs. Australia (replay)

— 9:45 p.m.: Men’s basketball, semifinal, U.S. vs. Serbia (replay)

— 10:30 p.m.: Men’s swimming, 10-kilometer open water (live)

FRIDAY

NBC

— 9 a.m.: Women’s basketball, semifinal, U.S. vs. Australia (live, joined in progress)

— 10:30 a.m.: Track and field, finals (live)

— 1 p.m.: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around final

— 1:30 p.m.: Women’s beach volleyball, gold medal match (live)

— 3 p.m.: Canoe and kayak, sprint finals (replay)

— 3:30 p.m.: Artistic swimming, duet technical routine (replay)

— 4 p.m.: Men’s diving, 10-meter platform preliminaries (replay)

— 5:15 p.m.: Men’s swimming, 10-kilometer open water (replay)

— 8 p.m.: Primetime in Paris (replays of track and field finals, women’s beach volleyball gold medal match and women’s breaking final)

— 11:35 p.m.: Late Night (replays of men’s sport climbing combined final and artistic swimming duet technical routine)

E!

— 1 a.m.: Men’s diving, 10-meter platform preliminaries (live)

— 3:40 a.m.: Men’s sport climbing, combined final (live)

— 4:15 a.m.: Canoe and kayak, sprint finals (live)

— 5 a.m.: Rhythmic gymnastics, group qualification (live)

— 5:30 a.m.: Men’s water polo, semifinal, U.S. vs. Serbia (live)

— 7 a.m.: Women’s breaking, qualification (live)

— 9:20 a.m.: Cycling, men’s sprint, women’s Madison (live)

— 9:50 a.m.: Men’s table tennis, team bronze medal match

— 10:30 a.m.: Cycling, men’s sprint, women’s Madison (live)

— 11 a.m.: Women’s breaking, final (live)

— 12:45 p.m.: Artistic swimming, duet, technical routine

— 2 p.m.: Men’s water polo, semifinal

Golf Channel

— Midnight: Women’s golf, third round (live)

— 4 a.m.: Women’s golf, third round (live)

USA

— 12:30 a.m.: Cycling, women’s keirin, men’s omnium (replay)

— 1 a.m.: Track and field, heats (live)

— 4:15 a.m.: Weightlifting, finals

— 4:45 a.m.: Boxing and taekwondo, finals

— 5:30 a.m.: Wrestling, eliminations

— 6 a.m.: Women’s soccer, bronze medal game, Spain vs. Germany (live)

— 8 a.m.: Women’s field hockey, bronze medal game, Argentina vs. Belgium

— 9 a.m.: Men’s soccer, gold medal game, France vs. Spain (live)

— 11 a.m.: Men’s volleyball, bronze medal match, U.S. vs. Italy

— Noon: Women’s beach volleyball, bronze medal match (live)

— 1 p.m.: Men’s table tennis, team gold medal match

— 2 p.m.: Wrestling, finals

— 2:45 p.m.: Weightlifting, finals

— 3:15 p.m.: Women’s basketball, semifinal, U.S. vs. Australia (replay)

— 5 p.m.: Women’s basketball, semifinal, France vs. Belgium

— 6:30 p.m.: Women’s field hockey, gold medal game, Netherlands vs. China

— 7:30 p.m.: Men’s handball, semifinal, Germany vs. Spain

— 8:30 p.m.: Men’s handball, semifinal, Slovenia vs. Denmark

— 11 p.m.: Men’s marathon (live)