Breanna Stewart and the United States used a dominant defensive effort to defeat Canada and advance to the FIBA Women’s World Cup gold-medal game for the fourth time in a row.
Stewart scored 17 points and the Americans raced out to an early lead to defeat Canada 83-43 on Friday, advancing to a gold-medal game against China on Saturday. The 43 points were the fewest ever scored in a World Cup semifinal game.
“Canada has been playing really well throughout the tournament, and the goal was just to come out there and really limit them,” said Alyssa Thomas of the United States. “We were completely committed to our game plan from the start.”
China defeated host Australia 61-59 in the later semifinal to advance to its first global championship game since the 1994 Worlds, when it won a gold medal. Last Saturday, the United States defeated China 77-63 in group play, the Americans’ closest game of the tournament.
“Our goal was to win a gold medal, and we’re in position to do that,” said United States coach Cheryl Reeve.
The United States (7-0), which is setting tournament records for points and margins of victory, took control of the game early, scoring the first 15 points. On defense, the Americans contested every shot while the Canadians missed their first nine attempts from the field. Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Thomas had virtually unlimited opportunities on offense.
“I think that punch really knocked the wind out of them,” Thomas said. “After that, they didn’t know what to do with their offense.”
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Laeticia Amihere, who plays for former US coach Dawn Staley at South Carolina, finally put Canada on the board nearly 5 minutes into the game with a driving layup.
The US led 27-7 at the end of the first quarter. Canada had four turnovers, the same number it had against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, which was the fewest in a game in 30 years.
The Americans led 45-21 at halftime and extended their lead in the final 20 minutes. The margin of victory was the largest for the United States in the medal round, surpassing the 36-point victory over Spain in the 2010 World Cup.
For the first time since 1986, Canada (5-2) has advanced to the medal round and has a chance to win its first medal since taking bronze that year.
“We didn’t get it done today,” Canada captain Natalie Achonwa said. “But we’re going to take what we learned today and see how we can turn it up tomorrow.” “It’s still a medal game, and it’s equally important for us.”
The United States has won seven of the eight World Cup meetings with Canada, with the most recent coming in 2010. Canada’s lone victory came in 1975.
The victory was the Americans’ 29th in a row in World Cup play, and they haven’t lost since the 2006 semifinals against Russia. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 consecutive victories from 1959 to 1986. This is only the second time in American history that they have won four gold medals in a row. They also won three times between 1979 and 1990.
This United States team, with so many new faces, is on track to break many of the team’s records, including scoring margin and points per game. Even without 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, the Americans continued to dominate the paint, outscoring their opponents by an average of 55-24.
Amihere led the way for Canada with eight points.
WORLD RECORD BREAKER
The low point total broke South Korea’s 2002 record of 53 against Russia.
Wilson said of the defensive effort, “We’re starting to build that identity.” “I think our identity is that we’re quick and scrappy.”
The United States is averaging 101 points per game. Coming into the tournament, the team’s best score was 99.1, set in 1994.
STILL HEALING
Kahleah Copper sat out after injuring her left hip in the quarterfinal win over Serbia. Copper landed hard on her hip while driving to the basket and needed assistance getting off the court. She hopes to be able to play on Saturday. Betnijah Laney, who was also injured in the Serbia game, played against Canada.
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