.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA writer given that 2010.Covered Cleveland Cavs for 7 years.Writer of 2 booksPARIS-- The combo of A'ja Wilson as well as Breanna Stewart has actually proven to become a devasting combination for the Team U.S.A. women, relevant where there is an instance establishing that they can share the Olympics The majority of Prized Possession Player Award.But there's a brand new duo arising, though certainly not a shocking one, that is actually shown to be a big boost as the Americans pursue one more gold medal.Las Las vega Aces teammates Kelsey Plum as well as Jackie Youthful have boosted to become difference-makers in France as well as played crucial roles in Crew U.S.A.'s 88-74 victory over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It denoted the group's 59th successive Olympic triumph as well as puts together a semifinal competition versus Australia, champions over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Youthful completed with double-digit factors for the 2nd upright video game, shooting 60% coming from the area in the United States' gain Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve relocated Youthful right into the starting lineup instead of pro Diana Taurasi versus Nigeria, a staff understood for playing high tension full-court defense that tests setting against guards.It was actually a reward after Youthful racked up 19 factors along with four takes off the seat in the last pool play activity versus Germany. She answered with one more exceptional functionality, having fun with power at both points together with one more Aces ally, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young scored 15 aspects as well as aided bring the U.S. offense early in the activity as the Americans got off to a bit of a slow-moving begin by their standards.Nigeria lagged through just 4 points midway with the 2nd one-fourth. That is actually when Reeve visited Plum, that was actually the 12th as well as ultimate player to enter the game for the Americans. Plum immediately altered the activity along with her passing away and also rate on the outrageous end, serving up three easy assists as well as toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum do with just 6 factors yet her six-minute change to finish the 1st half caused a plus-11 on the scoreboard to push the bring about 19 at fifty percent. The USA after that started the second fifty percent on a 15-0 operate as well as the worry was actually done for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson as well as Stewart, that entered the game balancing a matching 20.3 points every activity, played their brand name of professional oppressor ball. Wilson put in twenty factors on 9-of-11 firing with 11 rebounds and also two blocks. Stewart had thirteen points on 5-of-7 firing along with five rebounds and 3 assists.Brittney Griner came off the seat to score 11 ideas on 4-of-5 capturing. Those 3 internal markers blending for 16-of-21 is hard to beat.The USA got in the game balancing 29 helps as well as once again placed on a ball-sharing clinic through setting up 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which cut the lead to as low as thirteen in the fourth quarter, along with 19 scores. The video game finished with a little upper hand when the U.S.'s Kahleah Copper received a specialized nasty for throwing the reception at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she racked up in the last seconds.