SYDNEY — Breanna Stewart and the United States used a dominant defensive effort to beat Canada and reach the gold-medal game of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup for the fourth consecutive tournament.
Stewart scored 17 points and the Americans raced out to an early lead to put away Canada 83-43 on Friday. The 43 points was the fewest scored in a semifinal game in World Cup history. «Canada has been playing really well all tournament, and the goal was just to come out there and really limit them,» said U.S.
forward Alyssa Thomas. «We were really locked in from the jump with our game plan.» The Americans will face either China or Australia, who were playing later in the day, for the gold. «Our goal was to win a gold medal, and we're in position to do that,» U.S.
coach Cheryl Reeve said. The U.S. (7-0), which is on a record pace for points and margin of victory in the tournament, took control of the game early, scoring the first 15 points.