The United States’ women’s national basketball team, which had won 49 consecutive international games, is considered the heavy favorite to win a gold medal in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
But they will have to play better than they did in an exhibition game against FIBA’s No. 2 ranked team Australia.
the Opals stunned the Americans, 70-67, Friday in an exhibition game at Vegas, despite the fact they played without their powerful 6-8 star Liz Cambage, who has withdrawn from the team to concentrate on her mental health following a physical incident in a Thursday exhibition against Nigeria.
Ezi Magbegor, a 6-4 center from the Seattle Storm, led Australia, which had not beaten the U.S. in an exhibition just prior to the 2010 World Cup, with 17 points while Bec Allen added 11 points and Steph Talbot chipped in 10. Versatile 6-4 Brenna Stewart led the Americans with 17 points and 12 rebounds while 6-5 center A’ja Wilson was the only other player in double figures with 12 points. The Opals turned the game around with defense in the second half, rallying from a 52-39 deficit midway through the third quarter.
This was a second straight exhibition loss for the seemingly invincible, but aging American women.
The day before, a highly motivated young group of WNBA All Stars, coached by former Olympic greats Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson, defeated the national team, 93-85, in an exhibition. In all fairness, Diana Taurasi, the league’s career leading scorer who along with teammate Sue Bird is trying to win a fifth gold medal, did not play for the Olympians because of a lingering hip injury.
But the star of the game was Dallas’ Wings’ guard Arike Ogunbowale, who made the most of her All Star debut. Ogunbowale scored a game high 26 points on 10 of 18 shooting, hitting five three pointers.
“Just represent for 24,’’ he said afterwards, referencing the jersey number of the late Kobe Bryant, her favorite player.
This is only Ogunbowale’s third year in the WNBA and she looks like a rising superstar. ‘’I think that showed out of 144 players everybody’s good,’’ she said. “We wanted to get Team USA ready for Toyko. They are representing all of us.’’
The 5-8 Nigerian American guard who grew up in Milwaukee and played college basketball for Notre Dame, kept her fans apprised of the live action by tweeting whenever she went to the bench. This was just another magical moment in her young career. She was the Outstanding Player in Notre Dame’s 2018 national championship run, hitting game winning baskets in both the semi-finals and finals.
Ogunbowalke, who is averaging 18.9 points and has scored in double figures in every game this season, reaching 1500 career points faster than all but two other WNBA players in league history.
Ogunbowalke’s performance served notice she deserves a spot in the 2024 Olympic team once international stars like Taurasi, Bird, Tina Charles and Sylvia Fowles retire. Jonquel Jones, a 6-6 center from George Washington who plays for the Connecticut Sun, is another young player with a promising future. She had 18 points and 14 rebounds in the win and nearly won the three point contest.
This was not a typical All -Star game, with the teams playing hard on both ends for the entire game. “It was really competitive,’’ said 12-time All Star Sue Bird. “Definitely not a typical All- Star game. Usually talk to players about trying to put on a good show and having a good time and hopefully the fans enjoy it. This, right from the tip, felt different. It had an intensity about it you could tell.’’
The WNBA team led 75-73 midway through the fourth quarter before Ogumbowale had a four-point play to extend the lead to six. The Olympic team closed within 83-78 before Ogumbowale hit another three and posed for the crowd, which included many WNBA coaches and owners.
Brittney Griner led the Americans with 17 points and Stewart had 15 for the Olympic team, which had been 3-0 in previous games against WNBA select squads. Team USA was pushed by a WNBA team in a 2016 exhibition in Los Angeles, escaping with an 88-84 victory before blowing out the international competition in the Rio Olympics
