Team USA has secured a spot in the quarterfinals after defeating Belgium by a final score of 87-74. This was no cake walk as compared to their last bout in group play versus Japan, with Belgium throwing size and shooting at the USA which, at times, bogged them down.
But, with a team featuring Breanna Stewart – who finished up with a team high 26 points – it will always be hard to not only hold this team down, but keep them out of a game entirely.
Despite some struggles from A’ja Wilson early in this one, Team USA was able to secure the win behind some excellent defense from Alyssa Thomas off the bench, some great guard play, and dominance from Stewart throughout the contest.
Box Score at a Glance
As mentioned, Stewart was a force. Along with her 26 points, she collected seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal. She was often the answer to the question “what happens if we focus our size on Wilson to stop her from getting going?” And, it was a great response.
In addition to Stewart, though, Wilson still managed to contribute a solid 23 points in the win along with 13 boards, three steals, and two assists. It felt like she was struggling a lot more than the box score would suggest, but it just didn’t feel as dominant of a performance as we saw earlier in the week versus Japan. That didn’t matter, though, as she still managed to impact the game and get a win alongside frontcourt teammate Stewart.
In addition to that tandem locking in, we finally saw signs of life from Napheesa Collier. Collier, who was getting into foul trouble during the Japan game and who was often sat in favor of Brittney Griner, put up seven points, seven rebounds, and one assist. She caught fire specifically in the third quarter which helped the team gain some separation headed into the fourth against Belgium as it felt like momentum could teeter in either direction. Collier’s impact was crucial to having Team USA entering the fourth with confidence.
On the flip side, Emma Meesseman showed exactly why she’s considered a GOAT in Eurobasket circles. She put up an impressive 24 points on 11-19 shooting, and she was key in trapping Wilson in the post and making every single shot from her uncomfortable. Belgium might be 0-2, but Meesseman is certainly not the reason why. Her impact is felt – but the rest of her team had to step up and couldn’t manage that.
Stewie Explosion
Stewart was huge to this win simply because, without her, Wilson was going to continue to be the go-to post scorer for Team USA’s guards. With her struggling, Stewart’s ability as a multi-level scorer came through. At one point in the second quarter, commentator LaChina Robinson said “what do you do?” in disbelief at how difficult it was to contain both Stewart and Wilson on the floor with each other, as both are so adept at getting to similar spots and scoring in similar ways.
Board Team Gets Paid
Speaking of a way that Stewart impacted the game…
Rebounding proved crucial to staving off such a physical Belgium team. Team USA had 48 boards to Belgium’s 28, a huge differential. While Wilson, Stewart, and Collier were obviously big on the glass, it was Thomas who was the spark plug on this front off the bench. She was flying in to ensure 50-50 balls were landing in Team USA’s favor, and that often made the difference between Belgium creeping back towards a tie or a lead, and USA keeping them at an arm’s length. Her six boards, while far from the most on the team today, proved most important.
Next Up: Germany
With the win today, Team USA is 2-0 in Group C. They advance to the quarterfinals and extend their win streak at the Olympics to a staggering 57 games.
They now look ahead to a Sunday match versus Germany, a team chock full of WNBA talent like Satou Sabally, Nyara Sabally, and Leonie Fiebich. Germany will match up with the USA the best so far in these Olympic games as they’ve been dominant in every match so far in Group C play. This game is going to be big in terms of point differential in case of a tiebreaker for both teams – so look for both to be trying to run the score up on one another.