After nearly a full week of action at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the rubber is meeting the road: We've reached the final day of group stage competition, with four women's games left to determine which teams will move on to the knockout stage and which will go home. Follow along for a breakdown of all the action as it happens.
Women's Group C: Belgium 85, Japan 58
The Belgians actually did it. After dropping its first two games of group play against the U.S. and Germany, Belgium — considered a medal dark horse by many entering Paris after winning EuroBasket last year — knew it was facing an uphill climb to the knockout round. It wouldn't be enough for the team to win its final game against Japan; it would have to win by at least 27, a margin that would flip its point differential (-27 entering Sunday) to eclipse that of the third-place team in Group A, China (-1).
And wouldn't you know, they hit their number on the button.
Belgium came out flying in the opening quarter, building a 19-7 lead behind Emma Meesseman and ferocious defense that smothered the undersized Japanese. From there, the scoreboard watching was on, Belgium trying to build as big a margin as it could as the partisan crowd at Stade Pierre-Mauroy did its best to egg it on.
All of which set up a wild final few minutes. Belgium entered the fourth quarter with a 61-39 lead, five points away from the magic number. Consecutive 3s from Elias Ramette stretched the lead to 30, but Japan refused to lie down, consistently scoring to keep the margin right on the edge.
In the end, Meesseman did just enough to take it home: The star forward poured in 30 points on 14-of-21 shooting, including six of her team's final eight points, the last two of which put the lead back up to 31. Japan would score two baskets in the final minute to cut it back to 27, but it elected not to foul with 16 seconds left and Belgium was able to run out the clock — and punch its ticket to the knockout round.
The win clinches third place in Group C for Belgium, with a point differential of exactly 0 — guaranteeing them a finish above China. The Chinese can still advance, though, as their point differential is still higher than the potential third-place teams in Group B (Nigeria and Australia are at -8, Canada at -26). Nigeria plays Canada and Australia plays France later Sunday.
Women's Group B: Australia 79, France 72
Another wrench thrown into the works, this time in Group B, where Australia spoiled France's bid for an undefeated group stage thanks to tough-as-nails second-half shot-making from Sami Whitcomb (12 points, 5-of-7 shooting) and Tess Madgen (18 points, 6-of-9). The Aussies are the first team to be able to crack the French defensive puzzle so far in Paris, shooting 57% from the field and 63% on twos as they got to the rim seemingly at will.
A big third quarter made the difference for Australia, which outscored France 25-16 in the period and held on from there. Gabby Williams did her best to bring France back, scoring eight of her 15 over the first half of the fourth quarter to get Les Bleus within one, but Australia immediately scored the next seven points to put things away.
It's a massive win for Australia, which will finish in second place in Group B just behind France and move on to the knockout stage after a disappointing seventh-place finish in Tokyo. (Australia, France and Nigeria all finish on five points, with France taking the group based on point differential among head-to-head matchups between the three.)
Women's Group B: Nigeria 79, Canada 70
The third time's the charm for D'Tigress, who have qualified for the knockout stage for the first time ever in their third Olympic appearance.
And they did it their way, erasing a 41-37 halftime deficit with a 16-1 third-quarter run in which they forced five turnovers without allowing a single field goal. Nigeria forced 26 turnovers in all, holding Canada to just 37% from the field with the sort of harassing, all-court defense that's become its trademark over the course of this tournament.
Ezinne Kalu led the way on the other end, pouring in 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The win means that Nigeria will almost certainly finish in second place in Group B, only dropping to third if Australia beats favorites France by 10 or more points. Either way, Nigeria can finish no worse than third in Group B, and its +1 point differential is better than Belgium (0) and China (-1), ensuring that it will at the very least advance as the top third-place team.
Women's Group C: USA 87, Germany 68
Make that three in a row in Paris and 57 in a row in Olympic play for the U.S., which used some suffocating defense to turn a three-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into an 11-point halftime lead and never looked back.