LILLE (France) – The all-conquering USA took another step in the direction of a 10th title at the Games after beating Germany 87-68 to take pole position in Group C of the Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024.

Flawless and producing their best display to date in the competition, they made light work of moving past a Germany team that had previously been unbeaten themselves.

Turning point

After a very slow start in the opening minutes of the contest. USA slammed their foot hard onto the accelerator during the second period. They left Germany in their rear view mirror with a powerful 19-7 burst to finish the half.

Having locked in a 41-29 lead at the break, they had the luxury of staying in cruise control for the remainder of the game.

Game hero

Jackie Young highlighted USA’s depth by posting her best game to date. She was highly active and effective at both ends of the floor, contributing 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Her shooting was brilliant, hitting 5 of 8 from three-point range, opening up the floor for her teammates.

Stats don’t lie

USA were dominant in terms of points in the paint with 44 compared to 18 for Germany, while their bench scoring was astronomical. USA sunk 52 points off the bench with just 11 for their opponents.

Bottom line

USA looked like everyone had anticipated heading into this tournament – too good and too deep. This was a performance when they looked so comfortable after their stuttering start and you sensed they had more gears to choose from had they needed it.

Germany will be now all focused on their Quarter-Finals tie and will not be too concerned with this loss after two fabulous wins. Second place in Group C and the ‘Group of Death’ was always as good as they could have ever realistically hoped for.

They said

“We came here to go to Paris and that is the main goal and I am glad that we have been able to do it. But we are not satisfied we know exactly about all the work that needs to be put in and needs to be done to get us to the game that we want to get to. It’s not going to be easy but we will have some fun doing it.” USA forward, A’ja Wilson

“The next game is the most important one ever in the history of German women’s basketball. So hat is where we are focused. Every time you play against the US, you need to measure yourself and learn from the experience and that is going to help you next time. You always learn more when you lose than when you win.” Germany head coach, Lisa Thomaidis

Quick notes

– The USA have now extended their winning sequence to 58 straight victories at the Olympics; Germany became the 30th different team to lose against the USA at the Olympics.

– Germany made 10 shots from behind the arc in today’s game, with this being the first time for them with 10+ made 3s at the Olympics; however, they attempted only nine free-throws in today’s game, after shooting at least 23 in each of the previous two encounters.

– The USA dished out 25 assists in today’s game, with this being the third straight game for them with 25 or more dimes in this year’s Olympics – they have now done it in 12 different games since the start of the 2016 tournament, while no other team has done it more than four times in that span.

– Satou Sabally had 15 points in today’s game, being one of only three players to have scored 15+ points in each of her three games at the Olympics 2024 (also Emma Meesseman and Ezinne Kalu).

– Jackie Young scored 19 points off the bench in today’s game, after scoring a total of seven in her two previous games at the Olympics combined; 19 points off the bench are the most for any US player at the Olympics since the start of the 2016 tournament.

FIBA