A World Championship three-peat has
landed the US women’s basketball team a spot at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Team USA defeated Australia 73-56 in the Championship game of the FIBA Women’s
Basketball World Cup in Spain. In doing so, six-time defending Olympic champ
Americans also became the first to qualify for Tokyo Olympic Games.
Brittney Griner, a 2016 Olympic
gold medalist, scored a game-high 15 points for the U.S. Four-time Olympic gold
medalist Diana Taurasi added 13 points and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Breanna
Stewart had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Should the U.S. win Olympic
gold in Tokyo it would tie the U.S. men’s record of seven straight from
1936-1968.
The win over Australia finished a
six-game unbeaten run through the tournament for Team USA, which now has 10
World Cup titles and three in a row. Since 1996, Team USA has won 100 of 101
games and is now 18-0 against Australia in World Cup and Olympic matches. This
was the first time these two teams had met since the 2014 World Cup semifinals
where the U.S. 82-70. The U.S. has also won six of the last seven World Cup
tournaments (the event was previously called the FIBA World Championship for
Women).
Team
USA featured a balanced squad, led by veterans and four-time Olympic gold
medalists Sue Bird and Taurasi. Bird is the first U.S. player to appear in five
World Cups and is now the only person in history with five FIBA World Cup
medals. Bird, who had a game-high five assists, celebrated with her teammates
on the bench in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game. The team huddled on the
court after the game and applauded in the direction of the U.S. fans who were
in Santiago Martin Arena.
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