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Team USA Women's Basketball Wins 93-82 Against France in Group B Finale

Date: August 2, 2021

By: Kahlei Smith

A group of Team USA women's basketball players celebrate after a win in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Getty Images

The preliminary round is over and now the fun begins.

Team USA (3-0) earned their 52nd straight victory in Olympics play as they made a late push in the fourth quarter to sneak by France (1-2), 93-82.

 The USA women's basketball team had previously qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament after holding down Japan (86-69) last Friday. France also qualified for the quarterfinals because of a point differential by other third-place teams. They had to lose by 14 points or less to qualify for the elimination round, and all teams that advanced will find out Monday night who they will face.  

The consistency of the Team USA frontcourt proves to be a dominant factor in the Olympics thus far. A'ja Wilson leads the team in points (20.7) and averaged a double-double in the preliminary round. She led the France game with 22 points and six rebounds while Brittney Griner had 11 points and shot 5-for-9 from the field. Breanna Stewart had 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Tina Charles scored 15 points off the bench on 6-for-9 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from three. 

Team USA's Tina Charles drives in the paint to try and score a layup during an Olympics game.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

France opened the match on a 9-2 run before Team USA crawled back into the game. Both teams traded leads in the first quarter, however France closed out the quarter leading, 22-19. It was the third time Team USA was down after 10 minutes of play. 

Diana Taurasi, who opted not to play in the exhibition games due to a hip injury, suffered a wrist injury early in the first quarter and left the game for a time. However, she came back in the second quarter.

France still led early in the second before Team USA began to catch up. Stewart knocked down a three-pointer late in the quarter for Team USA to hold a 50-44 lead until the second half. She finished the first half with 14 points. 

Team USA led in the third quarter until France started to make a push after Marine Johannes made a layup and a jumper to put France under by one. However, Team USA took control in the third and finished with a 71-67 lead. 

France gained a lead early in the fourth quarter after Valeriane Vukosavljevic made a layup to give France a 72-71 lead. The short lead vanished, and Team USA cruised past France after Charles scored eight more points to give them the victory. 

The talent of Team USA has helped them in Olympics play even though they haven't necessarily found their cadence. Head coach Dawn Staley talked about what she's seen in the team that allowed them to remain undefeated in Olympic play.

"We are a lot different than we've been in the Olympic Games leading up to this one, in that we've just had half of the team that's been around, and then the other half really hasn't. And when your makeup is such, you have a tendency to lean heavily on the people that have done it a whole lot," Staley said. 

"I'm encouraged by A’ja Wilson, her ability to be consistent in making shots and rebounding the basketball. I'm encouraged by Tina (Charles), who was able to come off the bench and play the whole fourth quarter and give us the boost that we needed, from the outside and the inside. I'm encouraged by our ability to defend, and there's room for improvement. So, I'm encouraged by the room for improvement to really lock down and play some defense."

Team USA's A'ja Wilson tries to score a layup during an Olympics game.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Wilson acknowledged the deep talent on the team and how fun it is to play with her teammates. 

"We’re deep and very versatile. I think that's the beauty of it. We all bring something so different to the game, to the inside game, and it makes it hard for us to guard," Wilson said. "I can only imagine teams when they see us subbing in with what we have. It's pretty incredible to play alongside. I’m one of the young guns, so I'm just here soaking it all in."

Kahlei Smith can be reached at kahlei.smith@student.shu.edu. 

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