South Carolina HC Dawn Staley celebrates A’ja Wilson-led Team USA women's basketball’s 87-74 victory against Belgium
Team USA women's basketball's win in their second 2024 Paris Olympics game over Belgium sparked personal plans for Dawn Staley. As the Belgium team battled pound-for-pound to level 23 points in the first quarter, A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart spearheaded Team USA to cruise to an easy 87-74 win in the end.
South Carolina's Dawn Staley took to X/Twitter to congratulate Team USA while revealing that she will be in attendance for their next game in the competition:
"Great win ladies!!! @usabasketball See yall in Paris!!!," Staley said.
Notably, Team USA's struggle from the 3-point line persisted. After shooting 4-for-10 (20%) against Japan in their Olympics opener, they only made five of their 14 long-ball attempts against Belgium.
Nevertheless, just like their partnership against Japan, Stewart and Wilson posted game-high scores. Stewart delivered 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Meanwhile, Wilson added 23 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and three steals. No other USA player touched double-digits in scoring.
For Team USA, only 23 points came off the 3-point line and mid-range as they dominated the paint and free-throw line for 64 points. On the other hand, Belgium saw more balanced scoring with nearly 30 points coming from outside the paint.
They were led by starters Antonia Delaere (16 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals), Emma Meesseman (24 points, four rebounds and three assists) and Julie Vanloo (11 points, four rebounds and five assists).
Dawn Staley advocating for Caitlin Clark comes after Team USA's failure to draw big crowds into arena
Caitlin Clark's snub from the national team was one of the biggest narratives in women's basketball this June. While the selection committee – which included Dawn Staley – did not assess marketability in their roster selection, its effects were visible in Team USA's Olympic opener.
Clark's presence was felt in the arena, as resonated with a fan's "You Need Caitlin Clark to Beat Us" poster. Moreover, Team USA's opener saw the least crowd when compared to the other six pool opening games. A total of four games saw more than 20k fans in attendance while Team USA's win against Japan only garnered a little over 13k fans.
Moreover, it seemed had Clark been named to the national team, she would have been game-ready at the start of the Olympics. A significant reason is Dawn Staley's recent advocating for Clark's Olympics-caliber surge, forcing her to claim that she would pick the Indiana Fever rookie in case the team was being selected currently.
“If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people,” Staley said in a recent interview.
Do you think Caitlin Clark should have been included in the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.