How Australia returned to the Olympic medal round

The Opals, who lost to the U.S. in the Tokyo quarterfinals, also redeemed themselves from a 73-71 heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Serbia at Rio 2016. Center Marianna Tolo and forwards Cayla George and Stephanie Talbot are the three remaining players from the Rio squad.

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“It feels very sweet,” Tolo told The Next. “Cayla and myself were talking about it with Talbs, so to get them finally, that’s awesome. After the first game (loss to Nigeria in the group stage), everyone was a little bit nervous. But to turn it around like this in the quarterfinals is huge. To get past this point, that’s an achievement. It’s so hard because it’s do or die. I’ve been on the other end of that, and to get through, it’s awesome. For those young kids, that experience is invaluable.”

Australia went up by as many as 28 points on Wednesday, with Alanna Smith pacing the team with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Minnesota Lynx forward never found the bottom of the rim in 20 minutes of action during the final group stage win over Canada.

“In different games, somebody else steps up,” Australia coach Sandy Brondello said. “We try to give them as much confidence as we can when we have limited preparation. We handled any kind of adversity that was thrown at us today. ‘Poise’ is a word I have used a lot this week. There is a ‘pace,’ and then there is ‘poise.’ There are two speeds.”

The quarterfinal was also a major game for Jade Melbourne. The 21-year-old guard scored 18 points — more than the first three games combined — and nearly doubled the amount of minutes she was averaging in the Olympics. After she converted a steal in the final seconds of the first half, she found Sami Whitcomb, who layed it in, as the team would earn a 48-32 lead into the break.

“We were really locked in, which is what we wanted against an experienced team” said Whitcomb, who scored 15. “I was proud of how we started.”

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The American-born Whitcomb, who is 36 and competing in her first Olympics, praised Melbourne, who is starting against much more experienced athletes.

“I don’t know if people appreciate enough how hard it is,” Whitcomb continued, “and how well she has gone from game to game. And to have this kind of a game now with the stakes as high as they are. We expect that from her. We know how tremendously talented she is. More people need to do, as well. It’s hard to start your first Olympics at point guard, and every game she has learned and gotten better.”

Jovana Nogic and Angela Dugalic led Serbia with 17 points on Wednesday. The program had won the bronze medal in Rio and placed fourth in Tokyo.