.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA article writer considering that 2010.Covered Cleveland Cavs for 7 years.Writer of pair of booksPARIS-- The mixture of A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart has actually verified to be a devasting combination for the Team United States ladies, to the point where there is a scenario cultivating that they might share the Olympics The majority of Valuable Gamer Award.But there is actually a brand-new duo emerging, though not an unexpected one, that's shown to be a huge improvement as the Americans work toward an additional gold medal.Las Vegas Aces teammates Kelsey Plum as well as Jackie Youthful have actually improved to be difference-makers in France and participated in essential roles in Staff United States's 88-74 triumph over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It denoted the crew's 59th consecutive Olympic success and also puts together a semifinal matchup against Australia, victors over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Youthful finished with double-digit factors for the second straight game, firing 60% from the field in the United States' gain Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve relocated Youthful in to the beginning lineup in place of expert Diana Taurasi versus Nigeria, a crew known for playing high pressure full-court protection that challenges opposing guards.It was an incentive after Youthful racked up 19 points along with 4 swipes off the bench in the final pool play activity versus Germany. She responded along with an additional outstanding performance, enjoying with energy at each ends along with another Aces ally, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young racked up 15 points and helped lug the USA outburst early in the video game as the Americans got off to a little bit of a slow-moving start by their standards.Nigeria lagged through merely 4 factors midway by means of the 2nd fourth. That is actually when Reeve mosted likely to Plum, who was the 12th and also last player to get into the ready the Americans. Plum promptly altered the game with her passing and rate on the offending end, serving up three quick assists as well as toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum finished with only six factors but her six-minute change to complete the initial one-half resulted in a plus-11 on the scoreboard to press the cause 19 at fifty percent. The USA after that started the second half on a 15-0 operate as well as the stress and anxiety was actually provided for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson as well as Stewart, who entered into the video game balancing a matching 20.3 scores every game, played their label of skilled bully round. Wilson invested 20 factors on 9-of-11 shooting along with 11 rebounds and also 2 blocks. Stewart possessed 13 points on 5-of-7 capturing along with five rebounds as well as 3 assists.Brittney Griner went over the seat to score 11 ideas on 4-of-5 firing. Those three internal scorers mixing for 16-of-21 is tough to beat.The united state entered into the game balancing 29 supports and also again placed on a ball-sharing facility by putting together 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the lead to as reduced as thirteen in the fourth one-fourth, along with 19 scores. The game ended along with a little bit of edge when the USA's Kahleah Copper got a technical nasty for tossing the reception at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she scored in the ultimate seconds.