The United States’ women’s national team took the court on Aug. 4 against a very good—and undefeated in group play—German squad that had its share of WNBA players as well. With a strong defensive effort in the second half, the United States pulled away for an 87–68 win.
After dominant wins against Japan and Belgium, the U.S. team needed a win by a significant margin to cement the top seed in the knockout stage. Germany came in with wins against the same two teams, beating Belarus 83–69 and Japan 75–64. Germany’s plus-25 score differential was third-best in the field behind France and the United States coming into the game, meaning a lot was at stake.
Germany took an early 5–0 lead before Breanna Stewart hit a jumper to get the U.S. team on the board. Stewart then stole the ball and finished on the other end to cut the lead to one. The Germans hit their next couple of shots before another Stewart make, but Germany scored another five unanswered to force the United States to burn its first timeout. The score was 15–6 in favor of Germany with 5:20 left in the opening quarter.
Napheesa Collier picked up an offensive rebound and a putback after the timeout to start a little momentum. Satou Sabally matched the two before A’ja Wilson scored to get the U.S. team within seven, at which point the United States made three lineup changes and immediately got a bucket from Brittney Griner.
Sabrina Ionescu then hit a floater in the lane and the United States was quickly back within three. The German team wasn’t backing down, however, and used their size to continue getting baskets in the paint.
Both teams picked up their defense over the final three minutes of the opening quarter and the period ended with Germany leading 19–16. Sabally had seven points for Germany while Stewart’s early six led the U.S. effort.
The U.S. team opened the second quarter with a steal that turned into a transition three from Jackie Young and then a three from Kahleah Copper tied the game again at 22, forcing Germany to use its first timeout of the half. The defensive effort from the second group for the United States was starting to change the flow of the game.
A layup from Alyssa Thomas gave the U.S. team its first lead of the game with 6:49 left in the second quarter and she followed that with another lay-in after a Kelsey Plum steal to extend the lead to four. Plum then forced a turnover in the backcourt. Again, defense turning into offense for the United States.
Young hit a jumper and then stole the ball and found a streaking Stewart for a breakaway layup to make the score 32–24 in favor of the United States and force another German timeout. Young’s play was superb in the first half on both ends of the floor.
A Wilson fadeaway pushed the lead to double digits after a couple of empty minutes for both teams.
Wilson and Stewart, the two best players for the United States thus far in the tournament, hit shots but were answered both times by German makes before Napheesa Collier hit a layup inside the final minute of the half.
The U.S. team had to battle in the opening 20 minutes of the game, so its 41–29 lead at the half looked more comfortable on paper than it felt in the locker room as players discussed their strategy for the third quarter. A stronger defensive effort led to a big second quarter for the United States.
Stewart led the U.S. team with 11 points in the first half. Wilson had eight but struggled from the field, making only three of seven attempts. Collier had a team-high four rebounds while Plum had a team-leading three assists. Young was an impressive plus-17 while on the floor for 12:06 in the first half.
Two areas that stood out most in the first half for the United States were the team’s significant advantage in points in the paint (24–12) and points from their bench players (18–3).
The U.S. team opened the second half with a turnover that turned into a layup for Alexis Peterson and then another turnover turned into a three from Sabally and the lead was down to seven.
When Ionescu hit a free throw with 8:12 left in the third she recorded the first point for the U.S. team in the quarter. She hit both from the stripe to at least get her team on the board. But Germany was bringing it out of the half.
Leonie Fiebich then made a couple of free throws and the Germans continued to cut into the lead. Collier hit the first shot from the field for the United States of the half more than two minutes into the third off a nice pass from Ionescu.
Stewart hit a runner a minute later off another good feed from Ionescu to push the lead back to 11. A driving layup from Wilson made the lead 13, and Germany needed to make lineup changes to try to change the momentum.
The United States was not only trying to win the game, but also trying to win big; score differential determines the seeding for the knockout round and the United States was chasing France in that category.
Five unanswered points from Germany were ended by a three from Plum to keep the lead in double figures for the United States. Plum then hit a layup after a steal from Wilson and was fouled in the process. Plum hit the free throw after a German timeout to make the lead 14 after a six-point run by her personally.
Griner then hit two layups to make the lead 16, the largest of the game, and Germany was starting to get banged up fighting for rebounds down low. Fiebich of Germany was down for an extended period of time after taking a knee to her shoulder on a turnover and needed assistance to the bench.
Guelich and Young traded threes to keep the lead at 16 for the U.S. team late in the quarter. Wilson hit a shot in the paint before a Sabally airball of a three. Thomas put in a nice turnaround jumper to make the lead 20 inside the final 30 seconds of the third. A three from Young at the buzzer closed a dominant quarter for the United States, closing with a 69–46 advantage and all of the momentum.
Sabally opened the fourth quarter with a three but Wilson quickly answered with a layup before checking out for Collier. Plum also checked out for Collier 94 seconds into the final period.
Young stroked a couple of threes with an Alexandra Wilke three in between them to continue her strong game and make the lead 25 for the U.S. team.
Copper drained two threes before Young hit a floater and, suddenly, the lead was all the way up to 29.
Luisa Geiselsoder hit a two to slow the roll and Peterson stayed hot for Germany and was able to hit a three for Germany, which was also playing for a better seed in the quarterfinals. Geiselsoder made a layup and a free throw to cut the lead to 21 before both teams made some lineup changes with 2:07 left in regulation.
But the United States’ Collier answered with a layup. The U.S. team wasn’t taking its foot off the gas, because it needed that big win to secure a better seed in the knockout stage. Geiselsoder made a layup to continue her strong fourth quarter.
A layup from Wilke with 39 seconds left cut the lead to 19, and that’s where the game would end, with the United States winning by a final score of 87–68.
Young led the U.S. team with 19 points, including 5-of-8 from deep. Wilson scored 14 and Stewart contributed 13 to the effort.
The United States will now have to watch France play Canada in the final game of the Group Stage to see how the seeding for the knockout round finishes. France had a plus-42 scoring differential after their first two games. By virtue of its win on Aug. 4, the U.S. team finished its three games with a plus-58 differential.
The Olympic women’s quarterfinals begin on Aug. 7.
