The U.S. women’s basketball juggernaut rolled over Serbia, 79-59, and will make their 11th appearance in an Olympic final against either France or Japan on Sunday. Brittney Griner led the scoring with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Chelsea Gray had 14 points and Breanna Stewart had 12.
The United States, with a coterie of W.N.B.A. stars, had stomped past Nigeria, Japan, France and, in a quarterfinal game, Australia, always with comfortable margins. With an Olympic winning streak of 54 consecutive games, the U.S. women are favored to win gold, and it hasn’t looked like teams have an answer for their versatile offense and defense. They lead the tournament in scoring, assists and field goal percentage — and also in star power with the likes of Bird, A’ja Wilson and Diana Taurasi.
Serbia, though, was not considered a doormat. They had a comeback win over China in the quarterfinals and are the reigning Eurobasket champions; they are noted for a grinding if not flashy offense and a tough defense. Jelena Brooks leads the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game.
