Coach Cheryl Miller alluded to the fact that Saturday night’s WNBA All-Stars vs. Team USA game would be far from the usual lackadaisical All-Star run, and her players proved her right.
The WNBA squad defeated the US Olympic roster 117-109 Saturday in from of 16,000+ fans at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ. Led by Arike Ogunbowale’s All-Star game record 34 points (21 of which came in the 3rd quarter alone), the American Olympic roster fell to a highly motivated WNBA squad, eager to prove that a changing of the guard is already well underway across the league.
Angel Reese had a double-double (12pts/11reb) becoming the first rookie to accomplish the feat in an All-Star game, Caitlin Clark recorded 10 assists, falling 1 shy of Sue Bird’s ASG record of 11, and Allisha Gray chipped in 16 points as one of 5 players in double figures on the night.
As a result, Ogunbowale became only the 4th player win multiple All-Star Game MVP awards, joining Lisa Leslie, Maya Moore, and Swin Cash.
“Those are three greats, people who paved the way for players like us,” Ogunbowale told reporters after the game. “That’s definitely dope to be in that conversation.”
On the other side of the court, Team USA was led by Breanna Stewart’s 31 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the first player to post a 30/10 stat line in the annual event. A’ja Wilson contributed 22 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Diana Taurasi scored 14 points, while adding 6 rebounds and 5 assists in what may be the final All-Star game of her illustrious career.
Many of the eyes tuning in wanted to see how first time All-Stars Reese and Clark would co-exist given their well documented college rivalry. The two were able to connect a few times over the course of the evening, even sharing a high five coming back up the court after a Clark assist led to a Reese layup in transition.
“I thought that they were professional, like, as anyone at this level would be,” forward Nneka Ogwumike said of Reese and Clark. “I’m always impressed by the two of them. I think it was also really fun to see them playing together tonight. They had some synergy and the maturity that they have going in, not even just being here at All-Star but managing all of the influx that they get as the two rookies that are really getting a lot, a lot of attention.”
“And then, of course, being celebrated too. I think I would like to think that they had fun today, and I think that’s the main goal, especially for first-time All-Stars, is to enjoy the experience. And they helped us win too.”
The WNBA victory makes it two in a row over the US Olympic team, as the league’s All-Stars defeated the American side prior to the Tokyo games as well. That result had little bearing on the overall tournament as the US squad rolled through the tournament en route to another Olympic gold.
The WNBA now takes a nearly month long break for the summer games, with regular season action resuming on August 15th with a trio of games.
Photo: Lorie Shaull. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.