United States beats Nigeria 81-72; Australia falls 85-70 to Belgium on Day One
Sue Bird recorded a personal Olympic-high 13 assists and Breanna Stewart scored nine points and added 11 rebounds as the United States Women’s National Team held off upset-minded Nigeria 81-72. The victory was the 50th-straight win by the USA in Olympic competition.
Later in the day, Australia fell in its opener to Belgium 85-70 in the first game of Group C, despite a game-high 20 points from Ezi Magbegor in her Olympic debut. The Opals were one of a number of favorites to fall on the first day of Olympic Group play, a group which also included Japan knocking off France in the other Group B game and Canada falling to Serbia in Group A.
The United States had to battle hard to avoid joining that list, trailing by three after a rough first quarter before using a 23-0, second-quarter run to break the game open. Even with a 20-point lead going into the fourth, D’Tigeress narrowed the gap to just eight with four minutes left, but could get no closer.
Bird dished out 13 assists—the most of her storied Olympic career—including record her 100th Olympic assist during the game. Stewart was just one point shy of a double-double, recording nine points with 11 boards while also contributing four assists and one block. Jewell Loyd contributed eight points including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to close out the third quarter. She also had five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.
Later in the day, Australia suffered a minor upset, falling 85-70 to Belgium in the group C opener for both teams. The Opals led through much of the game, but Belgium outscored Australia 29-13 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Magbegor led the Opals in her Olympic debut, scoring a team-high 20 points and adding eight rebounds and two blocks. Stephanie Talbot was on the sideline for the Opals but did not play in the contest due to what was reported as a minor foot injury.
Up next, the USA faces host Japan on Thursday, July 29 at 9:40 pm PT (12:40 am ET / 1:40 pm JST) in a battle of Group B undefeated teams while Australia takes on China on Friday morning (July 30) at 5:00 am PT (8:00 am ET / 9:00 pm JST).
OLYMPIC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES
GROUP PLAY – ROUND ONE
Spain 73, South Korea 65
Serbia 72, Canada 68
Japan 74, France 70
USA 81, Nigeria 72
Belgium 85, Australia 70
Puerto Rico vs China (5 am PT/8 am ET)
| OLYMPIC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GROUP STANDINGS | |||||
| Group A | W-L | Group B | W-L | Group C | W-L |
| Serbia | 1-0 | USA | 1-0 | Belgium | 1-0 |
| Spain | 1-0 | Japan | 1-0 | China | 0-0 |
| Canada | 0-1 | France | 0-1 | Puerto Rico | 0-0 |
| South Korea | 0-1 | Nigeria | 0-1 | Australia | 0-1 |
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