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Olympics women’s basketball quarterfinals results: August 16th

By Cody Williams

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 16: Olivia Epoupa of France is squeezed by the Canadian defence during the Women's Quarterfinal match between France and Canada at Carioca Arena 1 on August 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 16: Olivia Epoupa of France is squeezed by the Canadian defence during the Women's Quarterfinal match between France and Canada at Carioca Arena 1 on August 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images) /
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Looking at the Olympics women’s basketball quarterfinals results from the four games played on Tuesday, August 16 from Rio 2016

Compelling is the first word that comes to mind when describing the Olympics women’s basketball competition at Rio 2016. Through the preliminary round coming into Tuesday, it looked like everyone was chasing Team USA. At the same time, though, it also looked as if any of the other seven teams that advanced could potentially win a medal. That set the stage for a wild day with the Olympics women’s basketball quarterfinals.

If you needed any indication that it was going to be a wild day in Rio with the quarters, the first matchup of the day proved it. Australia went unbeaten in Group A coming into the knockout rounds where they matched up with Serbia. However, the Serbs put up a tremendous fight in the group stage and brought that same fight into Tuesday’s game. With Aussie center Marianna Tolo being stifled by a great defensive effort, Australia looked lost and let Serbia hang around. That was a big mistake as the lower seed pulled ahead in the waning minutes to notch an upset victory and a spot in the semifinals.

Spain and Turkey faced off in the next matchup to see who would be playing Serbia in that semifinal matchup. This was another incredibly close game with both teams For every bucket that Anna Cruz and Spain had, Isil Alben and Turkey had the answer and more. Turkey went into the fourth quarter up five points. However, their defense fell apart in the final 10 minutes of play, which allowed Spain to go on a run. With that, the Turkish women had no more answers, falling by a tough two points to swallow.

The favorites in Team USA took the floor in Carioca Arena next, playing Japan. Diana Taurasi and the United States found themselves up against it in the first half, getting taken advantage of with a great gameplan and smart strategy. Japan trailed by only 10 points at halftime, but Team USA had another gear. Amping up the defensive effort majorly in the second half, the US allowed only 18 points in the final 20 minutes of play and pulled away for the massive 110-64 victory.

Finally it was France and Canada ending the quarterfinal matchups with another fantastic game. Sandrine Gruda was a monster for France as she notched a massive double-double and did it all. However, Kim Gaucher and Tamara Tatham were there every step of the way for Canada. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the French women finally broke through. They rode a strong final two minutes to a lead that they held onto, securing the 68-63 win.

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Now it’s onto the semifinals in Olympics women’s basketball. It’ll be Serbia vs Spain and USA vs France in the two matchups to try and make the gold medal game. These games will take place on Thursday, August 18.

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