The U.S. Women's Basketball Team is more star-studded than their attire. Between Diana Taurasi , Brittney Griner , A'ja Wilson , Kelsey Plum , and many more, the U.S. will be hard-pressed to find an opponent that gives them a run for their money. They aren't unbeatable though. After all, they did just lose to the WNBA All-Star team .
This is a team that hasn't played together much. Any competition they get right now is a means of learning to gel before the games start to matter. Tonight, it's Germany. Yesterday, the American men took care of business against the Germans by a score of 92-88. Now, it's the women's turn to do the same.
Stay here as we follow the U.S. women's basketball team in their exhibition against Germany.
Germany may have had the upper hand from beyond the arc in the second quarter, but the Americans got some good looks of their own. Toward the end of the quarter, Chelsea Gray had a phenomenal look from very deep to keep Team USA's lead at double digits heading into the second half.
After a quick three-pointer to start the second frame, Germany was swarming the Americans on offense, outshooting Team USA 5-2, and outscoring them 7-2 through the first three minutes.
While Team USA was able to break out of the funk with a three-pointer of their own, Germany answered back with a nice feed under the basket to Lina Sontag for an easy two-pointer.
That was quickly followed up with a steal from Leonie Fiebich for an easy transition layup. All of a sudden, the United States' massive lead was shrunk to seven.
If there were any questions how this team would fare after falling to the WNBA All-Stars, they were squashed early in this game. The United States got out to a monstrous 22-9 lead after one quarter.
Standing at 6'4", A'ja Wilson is a menace to all athletes who stand against her. That was very apparent early on in this game as Wilson was able to sprint past defenders and get great looks near the hoop thanks to great looks from her teammates. Just look at this feed from Chelsea Gray:
Even at 42 years old, five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi wasted no time getting the scoring going. Less than a minute into the contest, Taurasi earned the first bucket of the game with a three-pointer from the left side of the arc.
Taurasi's three sparked a 9-2 run to start the game for Team USA.
USA vs. Germany: Time, TV, streaming and how to watch
- Date: Tuesday, July 23
- Time: 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
- Location: The O2 Arena, London
- TV: FS1
- Streaming: YouTube TV, fubo TV
How to watch: Catch Team USA Basketball Showcase with Fubo
Group A:
- China
- Puerto Rico
- Serbia
- Spain
Group B:
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Nigeria
Group C:
- Blegium
- Germany
- Japan
- United States
- Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
- Kahleah Cooper, Phoenix Mercury
- Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces
- Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
- Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
- Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
- Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
- Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
- Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
- Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
- A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
- Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
- Satou Sabally, Shandong
- Alexandra Wilke, Keltern
- Theresa Simon, Alba Berlin
- Jennifer Crowder, Velichen
- Nyara Sabally, USK Praha
- Marie Guelich, Valencia
- Leonie Fiebich, Zaragoza
- Sonja Greinacher, N/A
- Luisa Geiselsoeder, Landes
- Alina Hartmann, Namur
- Svenja Brunckhorst, N/A
- Lina Sontag, UCLA
The 2024 Paris Olympics start on July 24 and run through August 11.
TV: Games broadcast across NBC, USA Network, E!, Telemundo, CNBC
Streaming: Peacock , NBCOlympics.com
Action begins on July 29 with an exhibition taking place on July 23.
- July 23 - United States vs. Germany: 3 p.m. ET on FS1 (exhibition)
- July 29 - Women's Group Phase, Group C: United States vs. Japan: 1 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 1 - Women's Group Phase, Group C: Belgium vs. United States: 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 4 - Women's Group Phase, Group C: Germany vs. United States: 11:15 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 7 - Women's Quarterfinals: Games start between 5 a.m. ET - 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 9 - Women's Semifinal: 11:30 p.m. ET or 3 p.m. on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 11 - Women's Bronze Medal Game: 5:30 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 11 - Women's Gold Medal Game: 9:30 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
For the men, here is how the early games shake out.
- July 28 vs. Serbia, 11:15 a.m. ET
- July 31 vs. South Sudan, 3 p.m. ET
- August 3 vs. Puerto Rico, 11:15 a.m. ET
Since women's basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1976, the United States has medaled in every Olympics they have competed in (they didn't compete in 1980 due to a nationwide Olympic boycott).
In total, the U.S. women's basketball team has won eleven medals – 9 gold, one silver (1976), and one bronze (1992). The U.S. women have won seven straight gold medals dating back to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Indiana Fever star guard and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark is not on the U.S. women's basketball team. The reason for this is likely one of two reasons: Clark is inexperienced on the international stage and U.S. women's team spots are usually given to veterans, and/or Clark's participation in March Madness for Iowa this year did not enable to her to attend U.S. training camp. Her absence likely played a large role in the selection committee's decision to not choose her for the team.
The U.S. women's national team game against Germany will take place at the O2 Arena in London.
While this squad went 3-0 in February qualifying, Team USA has played in only one exhibition game so far, a 117-109 loss to the WNBA All-Stars. Arike Ogunbowale led all scorers with 34 points, a WNBA All-Star game record, en route to All-Star MVP.
While this may seem concerning, the WNBA All-Star game has had this format once before (2021). In that instance, the All-Stars also won, 93-85. Ogunbowale was the MVP of that game as well. Team USA would still go on to win gold though.
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
One of the most dominant players in the WNBA today, Wilson has won MVP in two of the last four seasons, earned Defensive Player of the Year honors each of the last two seasons, and has never finished any of her six full seasons lower than eighth in MVP voting.
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Even at 42 years old, Taurasi is as good as they come in the WNBA. She is a leader through and through and has been a part of every women's Olympic team since her rookie season in 2004.
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Taurasi's teammate, Griner is a force to be reckoned with on the court. Standing at 6'9", Griner's sheer size makes her unguardable in some games. Oh, and despite standing at nearly seven feet, she's still shot over 30% from three for her career.
Lina Sontag, UCLA
That's right. The Germans have a college athlete on their national team. Sontag helped the UCLA Bruins to a Sweet 16 berth, and while she is not the most prolific scorer, she is a very good rebounder, snagging over two rebounds a game during the Pac-12 tournament this past year, while playing less than 15 minutes per game.
Satou Sabally, Shandong
Sabally is a deadly three-point shooter, hitting 34.7% of her shots from beyond the arc with Shandong. While Sabally has struggled to find her stroke in two games with the German national team (shooting 1-of-11 from three), it only means she's due for a monster performance when it matters.
Although she has played for Shandong most recently, Sabally is also a forward for the Dallas Wings during the WNBA season, but has sat out the entire year thus far with a shoulder injury. She will suit up for Germany in the Olympics though.
Travis Pulver, WSN : US to win gold in Paris
Pulver writes, "There is no need to be concerned about the tight game against Belgium in the qualifiers. The team only got together for a few days before the qualifying tournament began, and they got to open against the host team (who was fired up and ready to make a statement in front of a home crowd). Once they worked the kinks out in that game, they crushed Nigeria (100-46) and Senegal (101-39)."
Rusty Gorelick, bet365 : USA to beat Germany
Gorelick points out, "Eight of the top 10 WNBA players in points per game - A'ja Wilson, Kahleah Copper, Jewell Lloyd, Napheesa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum - are on the Team USA Olympics roster. Wilson leads the WNBA in points, rebounds and blocks per game averages, and she is the only Team USA player in the WNBA's top 20 players in terms of three-point percentage. Wilson, Collier and Stewart make up the top three, listed in order, in WNBA defensive win shares."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Team USA Women's Basketball Showcase: Live updates from US vs. Germany exhibition game
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