VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Sami Whitcomb of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm scored 19 points as Australia rebounded from a surprising opening loss in the Olympic women’s basketball tournament and pushed Canada to the brink of elimination with a 70-65 victory Thursday in group play.
Canada, ranked fifth in the world, got a lift when host France beat Nigeria 75-54 later in the day. It is still in the mix for a spot in the elimination round in Paris going into Sunday’s game against Nigeria in its group play finale.
Australia also came in needing a victory, or France’s win could have eliminated the Opals with a game left in pool play. Australia reached the quarterfinals three years ago only to lose to the U.S. in the Tokyo Games. France became the fourth nation to clinch a quarterfinal berth with its win.
Germany continued its dazzling Olympic debut by beating Japan 75-64 to secure a spot in Paris for the quarterfinals. Spain and Serbia grabbed the first quarterfinal berths with wins on Wednesday.
The U.S., chasing an unprecedented eighth straight Olympic gold medal, became the fifth team into the next round after beating Belgium 87-74 in Thursday’s finale. That leaves three spots up for grabs as pool play concludes this weekend.
Canada’s best Olympic finish was fourth in 1984. Australia came in ranked third in the world for its 10th Olympics berth, but it lost forward Bec Allen to ankle injury last week.
Steph Talbot, Marianna Tolo and Cayla George each scored 11 points for the Opals. Ezi Magbegor had 10.
Bridget Carleton led Canada with 19 points. Kia Nurse had 12, and Kayla Alexander added 10.
Australia led 18-16 after the first quarter and 38-32 at halftime.
Syla Swords, set to play college basketball at Michigan, drove to the basket for a layup that pulled the Canadians within 46-44. But Isobel Borlase answered with a floater, and Tolo’s layup in the final seconds put the Opals up 51-44 going into the fourth.
They led by as many as 13 in finishing off a much-needed win.
United States 87, Belgium 74
Breanna Stewart scored 26 points and the U.S. beat Belgium to clinch a spot in the Olympic quarterfinals.
A’ja Wilson added 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Americans, who have a 57-game Olympic winning streak that dates to the 1992 Barcelona Games. This was one of the closer games during the historic run of seven consecutive gold medals. Only three contests have been single-digit victories.
The Americans (2-0) faced a loud, spirited pro-Belgium crowd that made up most of the 25,044 in attendance. The arena is about 30 minutes away from the country’s border. The two teams met in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in February in Belgium, and the U.S. needed a tip-in from Stewart at the buzzer to come away with that win.
France 75, Nigeria 54
Gabby Williams did a little bit of everything to ensure France plays for a second straight Olympic medal. She had 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and six steals, keeping the loud home crowd revved up with Paris Games organizer Tony Estanguet in attendance.
Williams, who played at UConn and whose mother is French, made sure the host nation did not lose to the team that just knocked off Australia for its first Olympic victory in 20 years.
Nigeria closed 32-30 with 3:08 left in the second quarter on a floater by Elizabeth Balogun. Williams scored four quick points to help France to a 38-31 halftime lead.
Marine Johannes had 15 for France.
Ezinne Kalu led Nigeria with 18 points, and Murjanatu Musa added 14.
France seized control in the third, holding Nigeria to eight points after setting the Olympic mark for fewest points allowed in a quarter in its opening win over Canada. France led 54-39 in punching its ticket to Bercy Arena for Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Nigeria’s own hopes of qualifying remain alive going into its pool play finale.
Germany 75, Japan 64
Satou Sabally scored 23 of her 33 points in the first half to help Germany clinch its spot in Paris. Her sister, Nyara, didn’t play, with the WNBA’s New York Liberty forward in the concussion protocol after being helped off the court in the Germans’ opening win.
Satou Sabally, a forward for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings and former Oregon standout, handled her absence easily, tying for the eighth-most points in an Olympic game.
Japan tied it at 44 on a 3-pointer by Maki Takada with 8:22 left in the third quarter, then Leonie Fiebich scored inside to put Germany ahead to stay. Germany finished the third on a 15-5 run for a 59-49 lead going into the fourth. It led by as many as 12 to remain undefeated in pool play.
Alexis Peterson added 11 points for Germany, and Luisa Geiselsoder had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Japan, which won silver at the 2021 Tokyo Games, will need a win and some help Sunday wrapping up against Belgium to grab one of the final two quarterfinal spots. Germany concludes pool play against the U.S.
Takada led Japan with 15 points. Saori Miyazaki had 13 and Saki Hayashi 11.
