US women's Olympic basketball knows it has work to do after loss to WNBA team

PHOENIX (AP) — There is no panic in the U.S. women's Olympic team. The Americans have been in this spot before.

The U.S. lost to the WNBA All-Star team on Saturday night 117-109 and are headed on a flight to London to continue their prep for the Paris Olympics. Breanna Stewart said it felt like deja vu and she wasn't wrong.

The 2021 Olympic team also lost to the WNBA All-Star team in a tune-up to the Tokyo Games. They went on to cruise to a seventh consecutive gold medal.

Just like in the 2021 exhibition game, the Americans had no answer for Arike Ogunbowale.

The MVP of Saturday night's game scored all 34 of her points in the second half of the victory. She also had earned MVP honors in 2021.

“We'll take this one on the chin, keep moving forward,” Stewart said. “Don’t want to peak too soon. We're excited to get to London and really focus on this team and what our ultimate goal is.”

That goal is continuing one of the greatest Olympic streaks ever. The Americans haven't lost a game in the Olympics since 1992.

“This is going to help us tremendously. We don’t get that many game opportunities,” said Stewart, who had 31 points to lead the U.S. ”We can go back and watch the film and focus on how we can continue to be better. It was like a little bit of deja vu feeling but just locking in.”

The U.S. women’s team is scheduled to play Germany in London in an exhibition game Tuesday before going to France for the Olympics. The Americans are in a pool with Belgium, Japan and Germany.

“We have work to do and we know that,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Sometimes it’s good, adversity, etc. I don’t think we needed a game like this to have our attention. We know how hard it is to do what we’re trying to do and we have work to do to get there.”

That work starts with getting time together on and off the court. The players had a lot of other responsibilities over All-Star weekend besides the game.

They only got to practice as a team twice before Saturday's game. Now they'll have some time together with a lot less distraction. That will help them improve and get ready for what matters most — capping the Olympics with another gold medal.

“It's not time to panic. It's time to learn and grow and figure out how we can be our best together,” Stewart said. “We have a group of very unselfish players and everybody wants to succeed here.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball