USA women rout Serbia in semis, will play for 7th straight Olympic basketball gold

The USA women’s basketball team are on their way to play for a seventh consecutive gold medal after defeating Serbia, 79-59, in the women’s basketball semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the Saitama Super Arena on Friday.

Brittney Griner posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Breanna Stewart did the same with 12 points and 10 boards to lead the US team.

Chelsea Gray added 14 markers on 5-for-6 shooting from the field while Sue Brid finished with eight points – all in the first half – and a game-high four assists.

It was the 54th consecutive win for the US women’s team in Olympic play, and this sends them into the gold medal match, where they await the winner of the other semifinal pairing between host Japan and France.

The Americans got off to a hot start behind Stewart and Bird as they took a 25-12 lead after the first quarter. They hit a rough spot in the second quarter, though, as they could only muster five points in close to eight minutes of play, allowing Serbia to come back to within single digits.

But A’ja Wilson converted on a three-point play at the 2:21 mark to spark a furious 11-2 run for the US as they closed the first half ahead, 41-23.

The teams battled each other close in the third quarter, but Team USA opened the fourth period with an 8-0 run that pushed the lead up to 27 points, 66-39, and put the game away.

Serbia was led by American-born naturalized player Yvonne Anderson, who finished with 15 points. No other Serbian player reached double figures in scoring.

—JMB, GMA News