W.N.B.A. All-Stars Beat Olympians in Gold Medal Game of Their Own

Now Team U.S.A., led by Dawn Staley, a Hall of Famer and the University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach, will turn toward Tokyo as it prepares to seek its seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal later this month.

The 12-player Olympic roster includes the league’s career leading scorer, Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who did not play on Wednesday because of a lingering hip injury; the career assists leader, Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird; and the career rebounds leader, Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles.

Taurasi and Bird will try for their fifth Olympic gold medals, which no basketball player, male or female, has yet achieved.

The team also has six first-time Olympians, including Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who could have made the 2016 team if not for a knee injury.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/sports/basketball/wnba-all-star-game.html