PARIS, France — Another day of exciting Olympic action has been completed in France and 11 Arizona athletes competed and chased Olympic glory.
We saw Arizonans on the basketball court, beach volleyball court, in the pool and in the skatepark.
Here's a look at how all the Arizona Olympians fared on Monday, July 29.
Diana Taurasi, Kahleah Copper and Brittney Griner, Women's Basketball
Behind dominant play from Chelsea Gray and A'Ja Wilson, the US Women rolled to their 56th straight Olympic win, 102-76, over Japan on Monday.
Mercury star Diana Taurasi started, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds for Team USA. Fellow Mercury stars Brittney Griner and Kahleah Copper combined for 15 points and 11 rebounds for the US.
Copper had an injury scare after colliding with Japan's Rui Machida during the second quarter, but returned to play in the fourth quarter.
Team USA will return to the court on Aug. 1 when they play Belgium at noon Arizona time.
Promise Amukamara, Women's Basketball
Apollo High School and Arizona State alumnus Promise Amukamara helped lead Nigeria to their first Olympic win in 20 years as D'Tigress defeated the Australia Opals, 75-62, on Monday.
Amukamara started for Nigeria, played 33:32 and was second on the team in scoring with 14 points. She also grabbed six rebounds and dished out nine assists.
Nigeria will next play France at 8:15 a.m. Arizona time on Aug. 1.
Rebecca Allen, Women's basketball
Phoenix Mercury guard/forward Rebecca Allen was named as a member of the Australia Opals on July 6, but is missing the Olympics after aggravating a hamstring injury she originally suffered with the Mercury on July 16.
Jagger Eaton, Men's Skateboarding
Mesa's Eaton is back, but not for a second event.
He was supposed to skate in men's street skateboarding on Saturday, but the event was delayed until Monday due to rain.
Eaton was looking for his second Olympic medal after winning a bronze in Tokyo.
Men's street skateboarding was held outside of the Place de la Concorde. Prelims began at 3 a.m. Arizona time and the finals started at 8 a.m.
After a thrilling competition, Eaton came away with the silver medal.
Chase Budinger, Men's Beach Volleyball
Former University of Arizona basketball player Chase Budinger has switched sports, trading the hardwood for the sand and becoming a beach volleyball player.
Budinger was a star volleyball player at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, before choosing to play basketball at Arizona.
After three years with the Wildcats, Budinger turned pro and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, but traded to the Houston Rockets on draft night in 2009.
He played seven years in the NBA for the Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns and played one year overseas before retiring from basketball and switching sports.
Budinger made his debut on the AVP beach volleyball tour in 2018 and has now qualified for his first Olympics.
Budinger and partner Miles Evans played France's Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in pool play Monday morning, coming away with a 2-0 win.
Regan Smith, Women's Swimming
Former Arizona State swimmer Regan Smith swam in the prelims and semifinals of the women's 100-meter backstroke on Monday.
She is one of the favorites in the event and set the world record (57.13 seconds) at the US Olympic Team Trials in June.
Originally a swimmer at Stanford, Smith turned pro after her freshman year and transferred to ASU to be coached by Bob Bowman after hitting a plateau in her results.
After Bowman took the head coaching job at the University of Texas, Smith left Tempe for Austin to swim for Longhorn Aquatics.
Smith won three medals in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, a silver in the 200-meter butterfly, a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke and a silver in the 4x100-meter medley relay.
Now, she will be looking for her first gold.
Smith finished as the top qualifier for Tuesday's final with a time of 57.97 seconds, two-hundredths of a second ahead of Australia's Kaylee McKeown.
The final will be raced at 11:56 a.m. Arizona time on Tuesday.
Bente and Lieke Rogge, Women's Water Polo
There were four Sun Devils competing in women's water polo on Monday.
Two of them, sisters Bente and Lieke Rogge, play for the Netherlands.
On Saturday, the sisters helped lead the Dutch to a 10-8 win over Hungary. Bente led the team with three goals.
The Netherlands played China at 9:30 a.m. Arizona time on Monday and earned a 15-11 win. Bente played 15:25 and scored one goal. Lieke played 18:23 and scored two goals.
The Dutch will return to the pool on Wednesday when they play Australia at 5 a.m. Arizona time.
Mia Rycraw, Women's Water Polo
Another Sun Devil, Mia Rycraw, is playing for the host nation, France.
In their first Olympic game on Saturday, the French lost to Spain, 15-6.
Rycraw started in goal for France, saving 10 of the 25 shots she faced. She was the only player to play all 32 minutes for France.
The French looked to bounce back and get their first win of the Paris Olympics when they played Italy at 5 a.m. Arizona time. They did just that with a narrow 9-8 victory. Rycraw once again started in goal and played all 32 minutes, stopping 11 of the 19 shots she faced.
France will next play Team USA at 9:30 a.m. Arizona time on Aug. 2.
Blaire McDowell, Women's Water Polo
And finally, the fourth Sun Devil playing water polo on Monday was driver Blair McDowell, who plays for Canada.
The Canadians played their first Olympic game on Monday when they took on Hungary at 11:05 a.m. However, the Canadians lost 12-7.
McDowell played 12:37 for Canada, but did not score a goal.
This is the 23-year-old's first Olympics. She played for ASU from 2019-22, scoring 66 goals.
Next up for the Canadians will be China on Wednesday at 6:35 a.m. Arizona time.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
12Sports on YouTube
Get the latest news and stories from 12Sports on the 12News YouTube channel. And don't forget to subscribe!
