After falling to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and the WNBA All-Stars on Saturday in Phoenix, USA Basketball bounced back on Tuesday in London to dismantle Germany’s Olympic team, 84-57.
Two WNBA MVPs led the way for Team USA: Breanna Stewart had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, while A’ja Wilson poured in 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added a team-high 14 rebounds to boot.
USA Basketball opens Olympic play against Team Japan on Monday in Paris.
The Americans raced out to a 22-9 lead, scoring the first seven points of the game. By the end of the first 10 minutes, the Americans had built that 13-point lead.
The Germans, who will be making their first appearance in the Olympics, closed within 27-20 midway through the second quarter, but could get no closer as the Americans led 44-32 at the half.
Stewart, left, drives around Germany’s Leonie Fiebich during a women’s exhibition game
A’ja Wilson poured in 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added a team-high 14 rebounds to boot
The U.S. scored the first seven points of the third quarter and Germany never threatened in the second half.
Luisa Geiselsoder scored 13 points to lead Germany.
The Americans were without Brittney Griner, who rested. It was her first trip overseas since she was arrested in 2022 in Russia and sentenced to nine years in jail for drug possession and smuggling. Ten months later, she was free after a high-profile prisoner exchange.
Now the two-time Olympic gold medalist was back suiting up for the U.S.
Members of the U.S. men’s Olympic team sat courtside to watch the game. The Americans edged the Germans 92-88 in an exhibition game on Monday night.
Saturday’s All-Star game was the WNBA’s third most-watched event ever as 3.44 million people watched the WNBA All-Stars beat the U.S. Olympic team 117-109.
The broadcast easily topped the 1.44 million that viewed the 2003 contest. Saturday’s game peaked with more than 4 million viewers.
It was the third most viewed WNBA event ever and the largest audience for the league since its first two nationally televised games in 1997.
Last year’s game, which was also on prime time TV, drew 850,000 viewers.
This was the 17th WNBA game this season that has had more than 1 million viewers with Clark appearing in 15 of them.
The Fever rookie had four points and 10 assists in Saturday’s contest, although many feel she should have been suiting up for Team USA instead.
Colin Cowherd called women’s basketball ‘petty’ after Caitlin Clark’s Olympic team snub
FS1’s Colin Cowherd labelled women’s basketball ‘petty’ for Clark’s Olympic snub following the rookie’s performance during the WNBA All-Star game.
‘They’re very much like men’s soccer in America,’ Cowherd said. ‘They’re a little petty, they’ve been ignored to a larger degree than other sports and they’ve got a chip on their shoulder. They’re sort of a ‘prove you belong.’
‘For the United States Men’s National team, the soccer fans, it’s like you have to have a passcode to even talk about the sport online. And for women’s basketball, it’s this constant [need to] prove you belong. Caitlin Clark belongs on the Olympic team.’
Clark’s popularity aside, Cowherd brought up how her ability to spread the floor would be beneficial to the team in France this summer.
During the All-Star game, Clark lead both sides in assists with 10 dimes despite a slow scoring performance. Meanwhile, Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale tallied 34 points in the victory.
Clark is in a head-to-head race with Chicago’s Angel Reese for the Rookie of the Year award
‘The more I watch Caitlin Clark, the more I’m convinced basketball is not quite ready,’ He said. ‘She is more than ready. She helped her WNBA All-Star team beat the USA Olympic team this weekend.’
‘She was the best playmaker. One of her teammates had 34 points, and Caitlin just kept feeding her the ball. The most assists in the win, double-digit assists in seven of her last eight games.’
‘She’s also, in my opinion, a perfect Olympic or All-Star player, especially Olympics. All-Star games are a little bit of showing off. But [in the] Olympics, you have to be a facilitator, not a ball hog. I would argue Clark passes too much.’
So far this season, Clark is averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists as the Indiana Fever have emerged as a playoff team.
With 14 games left in a season with handprints of her popularity all over, Clark is also in a head-to-head race with Angel Reese for the Rookie of the Year honor.
‘The women’s Olympic team said: ‘You know if we put her on the team, there’s no question she’s gonna be a distraction.’ You know what’s a distraction? Her not [being] on the team.
