Ezi Magbegor played the game of her life on the biggest stage, dropping 30 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to help Australia edge past Belgium late and take home bronze at the Paris Olympics.
This was about as tight of a medal game as you could hope for: Australia led by one at halftime, Belgium led by one entering the fourth and there were five lead changes in the final period alone. Belgium took a one-point lead with just under seven minutes to go on a Julie Vanloo 3 — Vanloo bounced back nicely from a tough semifinal performance, leading Belgium with 26 points and knocking down several huge shots in the second half — but Magbegor and Alanna Smith powered an 8-0 run from there that proved decisive.
Australia had reached this point on the inside-outside combination of Smith and point guard Sami Whitcomb. But on a day when those two didn’t have their A games (9-of-29 combined from the field), it was Magbegor who saved the day, overwhelming Belgium inside and on the glass. She scored 12 of her 30 points in the third quarter alone, helping the Opals stretch their lead as wide as double digits. It seemed like that might be the game, until Vanloo went on an absolute heater: Arguably this tournament’s premier 3-point specialist started looking like Steph Curry down the stretch against France, hitting three long-range bombs in rapid succession as part of a 16-point barrage that helped turn that deficit into a four-point lead early in the fourth. Vanloo
But Australia cranked up its defense at the perfect time, getting several key stops thanks to an enormous frontcourt that seemed to be everywhere at once. Belgium was able to cut the lead back down to 3 twice within the final two minutes, but it could never find a way to get over the hump despite Vanloo and the indefatigable Emma Meesseman (23 points on 10-of-19).
After consecutive quarterfinal ousters in Rio and Tokyo, Australia is finally back on the podium, securing its third bronze medal and its sixth overall — second only to the U.S. all-time. It’s also a fitting send off for the legendary Lauren Jackson, who came out of retirement and fought back from injury at 43 to join the Opals for one final run. Jackson didn’t play much of a part in this tournament, but the fact that she suited up at all is a minor miracle, and after a quarter century of stardom she leaves this Aussie program in tremendous shape for the future. With Whitcomb, Smith, Magbegor and a slew of other WNBA players in the pipeline, this team will compete in Los Angeles and well beyond.
For Belgium, though, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Never a women’s basketball power, the Cats won the FIBA World Cup for the first time last year and entered this tournament with a genuine star in Meesseman and a ton of momentum. It seemed like this golden generation might break through, taking France to overtime in the semifinal round. But they fell short in the closing minutes, and did so again against Australia to leave Paris without a medal at all. Still, this is the first time Belgium had reached the medal round at all, and there’s plenty to build on moving forward with Meesseman stil just 31.
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