.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA author considering that 2010.Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years.Writer of 2 booksPARIS-- The mix of A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart has actually shown to become a devasting combination for the Team United States females, to the point where there is actually a situation creating that they can share the Olympics A lot of Belongings Gamer Award.But there's a new duo surfacing, though certainly not an unusual one, that is actually proved to become a significant boost as the Americans pursue another gold medal.Las Las vega Aces colleagues Kelsey Plum and also Jackie Youthful have actually boosted to be difference-makers in France and played crucial roles in Staff USA's 88-74 victory over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It signified the staff's 59th successive Olympic victory and also puts together a semifinal competition against Australia, victors over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Youthful completed with double-digit points for the second straight activity, shooting 60% from the area in the USA' win over Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve moved Young into the starting sequence in place of veteran Diana Taurasi against Nigeria, a group known for participating in higher stress full-court defense that challenges opposing guards.It was actually a benefit after Young racked up 19 points with four steals off the seat in the last swimming pool play game versus Germany. She reacted with another outstanding functionality, having fun with power at both ends alongside one more Aces colleague, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young scored 15 factors and assisted hold the united state outburst early in the game as the Americans left to a little bit of a slow-moving start by their standards.Nigeria lagged through simply 4 points midway by means of the second one-fourth. That's when Reeve visited Plum, that was the 12th and final player to enter into the ready the Americans. Plum immediately modified the video game along with her passing away as well as velocity on the offending point, serving up 3 fast supports and also nailing a 3-pointer. Plum completed with only 6 factors yet her six-minute switch to end up the 1st half resulted in a plus-11 on the scoreboard to drive the cause 19 at half. The USA after that began the second fifty percent on a 15-0 operate and also the stress and anxiety was actually created for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson and also Stewart, that came into the video game balancing a matching 20.3 scores every game, played their company of proficient tormenter sphere. Wilson invested 20 factors on 9-of-11 capturing along with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Stewart had 13 factors on 5-of-7 firing along with five rebounds and 3 assists.Brittney Griner came off the seat to credit rating 11 ideas on 4-of-5 shooting. Those 3 internal markers incorporating for 16-of-21 is actually hard to beat.The united state got into the activity balancing 29 aids as well as once again put on a ball-sharing center through setting up 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the top to as reduced as 13 in the fourth one-fourth, along with 19 points. The game finished with a little edge when the USA's Kahleah Copper acquired a specialized foul for tossing the reception at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she racked up in the last seconds.