U.S. gets past Nigeria, Australia coming up in semifinals

The quarterfinal was also another big game for guard Jackie Young, who scored 15 points in 18 minutes in a starting role. She now has 34 points in her past two matches after only seven in her first two.

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The trio of Promise Amukamara, Amy Okonkwo and Ezinne Kalu registered 19, 17 and 16 points respectively for Nigeria. It was a solemn ending for D’Tigress, as the team is called. The green and white won hearts around the world as they became the first African basketball team — men’s or women’s — to reach the Olympic quarterfinal.

Team USA will next face Australia in the first semifinal at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Belgium and host France tip off in the late game at 3 p.m. ET from Bercy Arena. Earlier in the day, Australia defeated Serbia, 85-67, Belgium beat Spain, 79-66, and France topped Germany, 84-71.

Australia next up for Team USA

From the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2012 London Games, the U.S. and Australia met in the medal round five times, including three consecutive finals. In Paris, the Opals are returning to the semifinals for the first time since 2012 and are hungry to dethrone the Americans.

“We just need to take it one possession at a time,” Australia center Marianna Tolo told The Next. “We have two tempos, and we can use that to our advantage. The U.S. plays their up-tempo game, and you can try to beat them at that. Or you can try to grind it out and make them play some defense.”

The 35-year-old Tolo is playing in her third Olympics. Challenging the U.S. has been a hurdle in her career many times, including the 79-55 loss in the quarterfinals at Tokyo three years ago.

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“Any time you want to win a gold medal you have to beat the Americans,” Tolo continued, “Whether it’s the seminal or the final. They won a lot of their games comfortably. But we’ll bring our type of basketball — physical — in their grills, and hopefully, we’ll disrupt them a little bit.”

While Young has been a surprise as the tournament has commenced, so too has Australian guard Jade Melbourne. The 21-year-old Washington Mystics guard doubled her minutes and scored more on Wednesday (18) than in her first three games combined.

“You have to believe it,” Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said. “It needs to be a positive mindset. You need to believe on any given day, you can beat them. They are a great team. We know that, but we have to go with the mindset that they need to stop us, as well.”