SAN CRISTOBAL de La Laguna, Canary Islands — Breanna Stewart is on the verge of becoming the best player in the world. She may already be there.
An informal poll of basketball experts taken after the USA women defeated Nigeria, 70-41, has the 6-4, 24-year old, second year star from the WNBA champion Seattle Storm No. 1, followed by 6-4 forward Sandrine Gruda of France, 6-7 center Brittany Griner of the USA, guard Diana Tarausi of the USA, 6-8 center Liz Cambage of Australia and 6-4 forward Emma Messeman of Belgium.
Stewart, who started playing USA basketball at age 14, led Connecticut to four consecutive national championships from 2013-2016 and was a rare four-time MOP in the NCAA Final Four, has gone from being a role player on the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympic champions to an impact player on this current senior women’s team.
The versatile Stewart, who was voted MVP of the WNBA playoffs, shot 7 for 8 and scored 19 points, contributed 5 assists and grabbed 3 rebounds in 24:36 to lift the sluggish, seemingly mentally tried Americans past Nigeria– the first African team to qualify for a medal round– 71-40 here Saturday at Santiago Martin Arena.
“When Stewie first joined the national team for the World Championships four years ago, she had to learn a lot and she didn’t play much,’’ Staley said. “But you look at somebody like Stewie, even though she’s not playing, she’s looking. She’s learning because she had a great idea of what the big picture looks like. She knew two years later, she could play an integral part of our success in Rio. You have to prep for that. You just can’t come in here and automatically have the type of impact she’s having unless you are mentally, and spiritually prepared and she didn’t take that time lightly. I know I I’m speaking for her. But she’s grown into someone that is hard to keep off the floor.’’
Stewart leads the U.S. in both scoring with 17 points per game and minutes played with 25.3 a game. “At the World Cup four years ago, I was upset I didn’t play that much,’’ Stewart said. “I was new to the national team that level. I did try to learn as much as I could because I wanted to make an impact. One of my goals was to help the U.S. win a gold medal in Rio.’’
It is a learning curve. The only American players to have an immediate game changing impact on the women’s national team we can remember were 6-4 guard Cheryl Miller from USC, who dominated the 1984 Olympics, 6-5 center Lisa Leslie and point guard Dawn Staley, two of the stars on the historic 1996 Olympic gold medal team in Atlanta. Even icons like Teresa Edwards and current guards Diana Tarausi and Sue Bird—who have multiple gold medals– had to wait their turn.
But Stewart has their same unlimited ceiling and she seems destined to be the star of the next generation of American players in the post-2020 Japan Olympics when the U.S. will have overwhelming size but will to do a rebuild in the back court once Bird and Tarausi retire.
Although the Americans had a healthy margin of victory against Nigeria, it was hardly a masterpiece. The U.S., who experienced an uncharacteristic melt down at the beginning of the game when they shot 2 for 16 and only fell behind, 17-9 at the end of the first quarter. It was the first time a USA had scored single digits in a quarter since the 2006 World Championships against Russia.
The U.S women wound up shooting just 41 percent but had a brutal 23 turnovers. Their two older stars—future Hall of Famers Bird and Tarausi—were never a factor. The 38 -year old Bird, playing with a mask to protect a broken nose suffered in the WNBA semi-finals—finished with 6 points, 5 assists and 3 turnovers in 22:26. The 36-year old, foul plagued Tarausi scored just one field goal in just 12:27. But the U.S. was still able to dominate play in the second half, outscoring Nigeria, 41-17, in the second half because these games are still star driven and the Americans have enough elite players like Stewart, who had a plus 35 efficiency rating, that can take control for a four to six-minute spurt to turn a close game into a blowout.
They may not be able to get away with the same mental lapses against a team like Australia, which can match the U.S. size and experience and dominated improving China, 83-42 in their afternoon quarterfinal matchup and are in the opposite bracket from the Americans. The U.S. outscored China, 100-88, in Group D play earlier in the week.
As for Nigeria, it was a big step in the right direction. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy after a 31- point whopping,’’ Nigerian national coach Otis Hughley Jr. said. “I’m proud of what we’ve established, playing against the pros from the United States. Basketball is finally getting the attention world-wide ever since the Dream Team in 1993. These women in Africa are the fruit of that and they want to show they deserve to be there.’’
