USA blast past Nigeria in eye-catching show of power

ANTWERP (Belgium) - USA made light work of taking down Nigeria at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp as they turned up the heat by beating the African side 100-46.

 

 

It was about as far away from their epic opener with Belgium as you could get. Instead of a last-second tip-in to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, USA were rampant in this one as they moved to 2-0.

Turning Point: The second quarter was when USA put their foot on the accelerator and rammed it firmly to the floor. They posted a power-packed 32-7 period that sunk any hopes Nigeria had of staying in the contest. 

TCL Player of the Game: Sabrina Ionescu was arguably the pick of the crop for USA and finished with a nice haul of 9 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. USA were plus 52 with her in the game.

Stats Don't Lie: Take your pick because USA rode their way to the top of just about every statistical category. But one big contrasting number was of course the contrasting shot percentages downtown with USA making 15 of 31 and Nigeria only 2 of 18.

Bottom Line: This proved to be a mismatch in both quality and depth. While Nigeria were hoping they could follow up their pivotal first day success against Senegal by pushing their opponents hard, they were unable to live with the transition and offensive firepower of USA.

They Said: "Tonight was great and we settled in really well .The first group got us going and that set the tone for the rest of the game. Every game is competitive and we take no game lightly. We focus on execution and details. Every game is a game to get better and that is how we see it." USA guard, Jewell Loyd

"We had a couple of things that we wanted to improve on as we moved through this tournament. Each day we are together we are trying to expand what we do. Our guard play was exceptional. (Kelsey) Plum played limited minutes but had 9 assists and then Sabrina (Ionescu) had 8 as well. We did a good job with our communication." USA Head Coach, Cheryl Reeve

"Against teams like USA you have to be focused from the jump and you can't slack at all. I am still proud of my girls. We have a long way to go and have a lot of improving to do." Nigeria player, Elizabeth Balogun

"It was a rough one. We didn't execute what we were looking for. I challenge my girls to play with fire and focus but we lacked that. We came back in the second half with more fight but by that point it was too late." Nigeria head coach, Rene Wakama

FIBA