U.S. women fight off Belgium to book spot in quarters
The U.S. women's basketball team fought off a pesky Belgium squad 87-74 to book its spot in the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson led the way once again with 26 and 23 points, respectively, to help the Americans stay undefeated.
Meanwhile, Emma Meesseman added 24 points, four boards, and three assists for Belgium in its defeat.
The Stars & Stripes have now won 57 consecutive games at the Olympics.
"Every Olympics is hard. You know, I can go back to the last five, and there's always moments that are really hard for us as a team," American guard Diana Taurasi told reporters postgame, according to Doug Feinberg of The Associated Press. "And, you know, tonight was a really hard moment for us. And you know, we came through."
Team USA led by as many as 14 points, but Belgium had an answer each time the Americans attempted to pull away.
Antonia Delaere's fourth triple of the contest cut the U.S. lead to 68-61 with 6:07 remaining in the fourth. However, Belgium was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
The Americans dominated the battle on the glass, outrebounding their counterparts 49-27, including a plus-10 advantage in offensive boards.
The top-ranked nation also tallied 22 fast-break points and 13 second-chance points.
Team USA concludes group play Sunday against Germany, while Belgium will take on Japan.