Nigeria became the first African basketball national team to make it out of the Group Stage in the Olympic Tournament. However, the Nigerian fairytale came to an end as Team USA advanced to the Olympic semi-finals confirming its title as the firm favorite to win the Gold.
USA raced past Nigeria 74-88, as A’ja Wilson had another game to remember, with the forward posting a performance efficiency valuation of 32 after producing 20 points from a 9 of 11 shooting effort — as well as grabbing 11 rebounds.
Germany appeared for the first time in the Olympic Quarter-Finals, but had a tough game against the hosts France. Ahead by a mere 23-19 after the first quarter, France erupted with a 17-5 run at the start of the second period and left Germany behind to eventually win 71-84.
The hosts kept pulling their weight and they advanced to the semifinals to set a matchup with Belgium. Belgium will appear in its first Olympic semi-final ever after beating Spain 79-66. Kyara Linskens came away with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals for the winning side, while Emma Meesseman had 19 points, 9 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals.
Alanna Smith set the tone early, and Australia’s early struggles in the competition became a long-distant memory as they beat Serbia 67-85 to advance to the semi-finals. Australia have qualified for the semi-finals for the 6th time, the most recent one was in 2012.
Women’s Olympic Basketball semifinals schedule
9/8
18:30 USA vs Australia
22:00 France vs Belgium
