This may be A ja Wilson’s first Olympics.
It won’t be her last.
The powerful 6-5 Wilson from the WNBA Las Vegas Aces stamped herself as the future of women’s basketball with another dominant Olympic performance. The former national college Player of the Year who led South Carolina to the 2017 NCAA championship as a junior, scored 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds and had three assists as Team USA woman fought off a very good France team, 93-82, to finish pool play with a perfect 3-0 record.
Wilson, the 2020 WNBA MVP who is playing for her college coach Dawn Staley who she calls her second mother, continued her dominance after producing a pair of double doubles in America’s victories over Nigeria and Japan.
Team USA needed that effort in addition to 17 points and 7 rebounds from indispensable 64 wing Breanna Stewart, 15 points from 6-4 backup center from backup center Tina Charles and 11 from 6-9 Brittney Griner to beat the French (1-2), who also advanced to the medal round because of point differential. Both teams will find out their quarterfinal opponent in the draw later on Monday..
In the end, the US had too much power in the paint for France. The US shot 56 percent and made 62 percent of its shots inside the arc. France shot 45 percent, getting 15 points from Endene Miyem and putting six players in double figures .
Team USA actually trailed 73-72 with just over nine minutes to play before the 36-year old Charles nailed a three and Wilson scored six points during 12-2 run as the US put a tightly contested game away.
The USA has now won 52 straight Olympic games, but their margin of victory has been a lot tighter than it did at the 2016 games in Rio, when Team USA’s closest game was was 19 points .
Team USA got a huge scare when veteran guard Diana Taurasi suffered an injury to her right wrist in the first quarter and was forced to leave the game for treatment. Taurasi, Team USA’s
best player in Rio, eventually returned with 4:20 left in the half
Wilson is arguably Staley’s most important recruit. She was born in Hopkins, S.C. and was named for her father Roscoe’s favorite song, “Aja” by Steely Dan. Her father played basketball in Europe for 10 years. Wilson attended Heathwood Hall Episcopal Academy where she led her team to the 2014 state championship as a senior. Wilson, who averaged 24.7 points, 13.9 rebounds and 4.3 blocks a game, won the National High School Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All America.
Her commitment to South Carolina turned the Gamecocks in a national power and Wilson was a selected SEC Player of the Year and All America for three straight seasons as well as national Player of the Year as a senior. Wilson finished her career as South Carolina’s all time leading scorer and was the first pick in the WNBA draft and helped turn the Aces into championship contenders
On Jan. 2021, as part of the university’s observance of Martin Luther King Day, a stature of Wilson was dedicated near the main entrance to Carolina’s basketball home, the Colonial Life Arena. In a zoom call, Wilson noted the irony in changing times. “My grandmother couldn’t even walk on this campus,” she said. “If she was here today to see her grand daughter has a statue where he once could not walk.. . . It goes to show how you just plant seeds, and that’s all it’s about.”
