Jade Melbourne scored 14 of her 18 factors by halftime and Australia superior to the Paris Olympics semifinals in ladies’s basketball by routing Serbia 85-67 on Wednesday.
The Opals needed to win their group-play finale to achieve the elimination spherical, and so they received a little bit of revenge by beating the nation that surprised them within the quarterfinals on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Australia got here into the Paris Video games ranked third on the planet, and the Opals are on the lookout for their first Olympic medal since taking bronze on the 2012 London Video games.
Their semifinal opponent Friday would be the U.S., an 88-74 winner over Nigeria. The Individuals are the reigning Olympic champions and on the lookout for an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold. Nigeria opened these video games beating the Opals for the nation’s first Olympic win since 2004 in Athens.
Belgium reached its first semifinal within the Cats’ second Olympic look, routing Spain 79-66 to advance. The Cats celebrated with followers by clapping thrice after which a few gamers ran across the court docket celebrating the victory.
They’ll play France, which ended Germany’s Olympic debut, on Friday for the prospect to play for gold.
Serbia goes residence on the earliest level of the nation’s third straight Olympic look following a shocking loss that left the gamers sobbing or attempting to carry again tears within the closing minutes. The Serbs received bronze of their Olympic debut on the Rio Video games and completed fourth three years in the past in Tokyo.
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The Opals led 48-32 at halftime. In Tuesday’s males’s quarterfinals, Australia blew a 24-point lead and misplaced in extra time to Serbia. The ladies by no means got here near that Wednesday.
Alanna Smith scored 9 of her 22 factors within the third quarter, and Australia pushed its result in 28 at one level. Cayla George added 17 and Sami Whitcomb had 15 for the Opals.
Jovana Nogic led Serbia with 17 factors. Angela Dugalic added 14 and Ivana Raca 10.
The Individuals notched their 59th straight victory for the reason that program’s final loss within the 1992 Barcelona Video games, and now they transfer into the semifinal towards an previous foe in Australia needing two extra wins to do one thing no workforce has achieved in Olympic historical past.
Emma Meesseman, who final performed within the WNBA in 2022 with Chicago and was an All-Star that yr, set the tone by pulling down back-to-back 3s to open the sport for Belgium.
The Belgian Cats have been on the rise currently internationally behind Meesseman. They positioned seventh within the Tokyo Video games, fifth on the World Cup a yr later and received the EuroBasket championship final yr. The Cats had by no means reached the Olympic quarterfinals earlier than.
Meesseman completed with 19 factors, snapping her Olympic ladies’s basketball report of video games with a minimum of 20 factors at seven straight.
Now the Cats could have an opportunity at a medal regardless of dropping level guard Julie Allemand simply earlier than the opening ceremony when she reinjured an ankle that had saved her out all season for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Additionally they misplaced middle Becky Massey with six minutes left within the third. She badly rolled her proper ankle and went down instantly. Spain, in a pleasant gesture, positioned the ball out of bounds, giving it again to Belgium regardless of trailing 59-37 on the time.
Kyara Linskens additionally had 19 for Belgium. Antonia Delaere and Julie Vanloo added 13 apiece.
It was a disappointing end for Spain with Pau Gasol, former NBA nice and now Worldwide Olympic Committee member, watching courtside.
Spain received silver on the 2016 Rio Video games, then completed sixth three years in the past on the Tokyo Video games. The Spaniards missed the 2022 World Cup, and so they introduced in Megan Gustafson, the 2019 AP ladies’s faculty basketball participant of the yr out of Iowa, final summer time.
Gustafson scored 12 of her 21 factors within the first quarter, together with a 3 that tied it at 26 going into the second. Then the Cats outscored Spain 22-11 within the second to take management and lead 48-37 at halftime. Belgium had a 19-12 edge within the third, taking a 67-49 lead into the fourth.
Maite Cazorla added 13 for Spain.
Marine Johannes scored 24 factors as host France moved nearer to its greatest end since taking silver in 2012 on the London Video games.
France, which received bronze three years in the past, has placed on a defensive present throughout the Paris Video games, beginning with holding Canada to a report two factors — the fewest in any quarter of an Olympic recreation, males’s or ladies’s.
With the group behind it, France led 23-19 after the primary quarter and 22-14 within the second earlier than taking a 45-33 halftime lead. France led by as many as 16 factors within the second, arising with 10 steals as Germany turned it over 13 occasions. France turned these into 12 factors.
Higher but, France confirmed off some severe depth with a 54-22 edge in scoring off the bench.
Gabby Williams added 15 factors, and Alexia Chery had 10 for France.
Germany received again Nyara Sabally, who performs for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, from concussion protocol and an damage suffered within the opener of group play. She scored 20 off the bench and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Alexis Peterson added 15 factors, Satou Sabally 12 and Marie Guelich 11.