U.S. Women Earn First Exhibition Win, Routing Nigeria 93-62
LAS VEGAS – A’ja Wilson scored 16 points and Breanna Stewart added 14 to help the U.S. beat Nigeria 93-62 on Sunday in the final pre-Olympic exhibition tune-up for both teams.
The U.S. rebounded after dropping consecutive exhibition games for the first time since 2011 with losses to the WNBA All-Stars and Australia.
The Americans got off to a strong start, racing out to a 20-4 lead. After shooting 2-for-18 from behind the 3-point arc in the loss to Australia, the U.S. pounded the ball inside early and often against Nigeria. The first 10 points came from A’ja Wilson and Brittney Griner.
The U.S. led 29-15 after one quarter as Stewart had 10 points. Griner took over in the second quarter to help the Americans extend the lead to 55-34 at the half. Nigeria never made a run in the second half against the U.S., which was missing Diana Taurasi for the third consecutive exhibition game as she recovers from a hip injury.