Frieda Buhner of Germany (left) and Satou Sabally of Germany (right) try to grab a rebound along with Evelyn Mawuli of Japan during a women’s basketball game during the 2024 Summer Olympics, on August 1 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France.
11:39 JST, August 2, 2024
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Sami Whitcomb scored 19 points as Australia recovered from a surprise opening defeat in the Olympic women’s basketball tournament to push Canada to the brink of elimination with a 70-65 group-stage victory on Thursday.
Canada, ranked fifth in the world, got a boost when hosts France beat Nigeria 75-54 later in the day. It remains in contention for a spot in the elimination round in Paris before Sunday’s match against Nigeria in the group stage final.
Australia also came in needing a win, otherwise a victory by France would have eliminated the Opals with a game to spare in the group stage. Australia reached the quarter-finals three years ago, but lost to the USA at the Tokyo Games. France became the fourth country to secure a place in the quarter-finals with its victory.
Germany continued its stunning Olympic debut by beating Japan 75-64 to secure a quarter-final spot in Paris, while Spain and Serbia claimed the first quarter-final spots with victories on Wednesday.
The U.S., chasing an unprecedented eighth straight Olympic gold medal, became the fifth team to advance to the next round after beating Belgium 87-74 in Thursday’s final, leaving three spots up for grabs when pool play concludes this weekend.
Canada’s best performance at the Olympics was a fourth place finish in 1984. Australia was ranked third in the world for its 10th Olympic appearance, but lost forward Bec Allen last week to an ankle injury.
Steph Talbot, Marianna Tolo and Cayla George each scored 11 points for the Opals. Ezi Magbegor had 10.
Bridget Carleton led Canada with 19 points. Kia Nurse had 12 and Kayla Alexander added 10.
Australia led 18-16 after the first quarter and 38-32 at halftime.
Syla Swords, who will play college basketball at Michigan, drove to the basket for a layup that cut the Canadians to 46-44. But Isobel Borlase answered with a floater and Tolo’s layup in the final seconds put the Opals up 51-44 going into the fourth period.
They led by as many as 13 points and thus achieved a much-needed victory.
France 75, Nigeria 54
Gabby Williams did a little bit of everything to ensure France is playing for a second consecutive Olympic medal. She had 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and six steals, and kept a raucous home crowd hyped, with Paris Games organizer Tony Estanguet in attendance.
Williams, who played at UConn and has a French mother, made sure the host country did not lose to the team that had just defeated Australia to win the Olympics for the first time in 20 years.
Nigeria closed the score to 32-30 with 3:08 left in the second quarter on a floater by Elizabeth Balogun. Williams scored four quick points to help France to a 38-31 halftime lead.
Marine Johannes had 15 for France.
Ezinne Kalu led Nigeria with 18 points and Murjanatu Musa added 14.
France took control in the third period, holding Nigeria to eight points after reaching the Olympic milestone for fewest points allowed in a quarter in its opening win over Canada. France led 54-39 to seal a ticket to the Bercy Arena for Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Nigeria’s own qualification hopes remain alive ahead of the group stage finals.
Germany 75, Japan 64
Satou Sabally scored 23 of her 33 points in the first half to help Germany secure a spot in Paris. Her sister, Nyara, did not play, with the WNBA’s New York Liberty forward in concussion protocol after being helped off the court in the Germans’ opening win.
Satou Sabally, a forward for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, coped with her absence with ease, finishing eighth in the all-time Olympic points rankings.
Japan tied the score at 44-4 with a 3-pointer by Maki Takada with 8:22 left in the third quarter, before Leonie Fiebich scored to put Germany ahead. Germany closed the third quarter on a 15-5 run for a 59-49 lead in the fourth. They led by as many as 12 points to remain undefeated in the pool stage.
Alexis Peterson added 11 points for Germany and Luisa Geiselsoder had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Japan, which won silver at the 2021 Tokyo Games, needs a win and some help on Sunday to secure one of the last two quarterfinal spots. Germany closes out the group stage against the US
Takada led Japan with 15 points. Saori Miyazaki had 13 and Saki Hayashi 11.
