The knockout round is officially underway in the women’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics, with four blockbuster quarterfinal matchups on tap on Wednesday, Aug. 7. Who will move on to the semifinals and who will go home? Follow along for a breakdown of all the action.
Women’s quarterfinal: Australia 85, Serbia 67
Don’t look now, but here come the Opals. After getting its Olympics off to a rocky start against Nigeria — a loss that certainly looks a lot more justifiable in retrospect, given how Nigeria has played in this competition — Australia has caught fire, knocking off Canada and France in group play and then pounding Serbia in the first women’s quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The Aussies came out scorching, making 12 of their first 18 shots with seven points apiece from Cayla George and breakout star Sami Whitcomb to build a double-digit lead by early in the second quarter. From there, the rout was on: Australia closed the half on an 8-2 run, taking a 16-point lead into the half. The margin would never get back within single digits again, ballooning as high as 28 as Alana Smith and Jade Melbourne came alive.
This Australia team has waves upon waves of offense; the quartet of Whitcomb, Smith, Melbourne and George combined for 73 of the team’s 85 points on 23-of-45 shooting, getting into the lane at will for easy looks and a huge 25-14 free-throw edge.
With Melbourne and Whitcomb orchestrating and Smith feasting down low, this is a very dangerous team, one that has totally flipped the script from its slow start as a potential semifinal matchup with the U.S. looms.
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