OLYW - Women’s Quarter-Finals preview

LONDON (Olympics) - The United States are looking to underline their status as the most dominating team in Olympic women's basketball history when they take on Canada in the Quarter-Finals on Tuesday.

The Americans are going after a fifth consecutive gold medal.

Unbeaten France, impressive Turkey, world powers Australia and Russia along with China and the Czech Republic are also still alive in the hunt for medals.

The USA women haven’t lost an Olympic game since the Semi-Finals of the 1992 Barcelona Games.

They finished top of Group A in London after decisive wins over Croatia, Angola, Turkey, the Czech Republic and China.

Canada are in the clouds.

In Group B, Canada prevailed over Great Britain and Brazil but lost to Russia, France and Australia.

The Canadians were extremely competitive in their three defeats, however, losing by an average of six points.

"Canada's a very tough team," USA point guard Sue Bird said.

"I think people kind of look at them and underestimate them.

“I've actually played against them this year with my WNBA team (Seattle Storm) in a scrimmage and I can tell you, they are not easy to play against.

"They are a team that plays together very, very well. They run their offense. If they have 23 seconds, they will use 23 seconds to get that shot off. It's not easy to guard them.

"And they have proven themselves this tournament."

No matter what happens, Canada will leave London feeling upbeat about their Olympics.

Canada were the last team to seal a place at the London Games, via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in Ankara, Turkey.

They have played some of the most attractive basketball in Britain.

One of their leading players at the London Games has been Kim Smith, who has averaged 14 points per game and shot 61% from the floor, including 50% (11 of 22) from behind the arc.

“My first few years with the national team,” Smith said, “we would come and play the European teams and it would be like, ‘Okay, let’s try and lose by less than 20.’

“And now, we came in here expecting to make some noise. We knew we were going to surprise people. We knew people back home were going to be shocked that we were this good.

“So, it’s been a great experience to finally stick through it so long and feel like we are finally here.”

But can Canada win against the United States?

“They’re incredibly talented, they’re really good, but we’re going to go out there to give it our all,” Smith said.

Since women first played basketball at the Olympics, Canada’s best finish was at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles when they came in fourth.

Smith was three months old when Canada lost in the bronze medal game that year to China.

“There is absolutely nothing to lose,” Smith said.

“We’ve already done our country so proud and grown the game in our country so much, we’re excited and ready for another challenge.”

France finished first in Group B.

Three of their wins (against Great Britain, Canada and Australia) were by an average of 3.67 points.

They defeated the Brits with a Celine Dumerc three-ball at the overtime buzzer.

Next up are familiar foes, the Czech Republic.

“It’s encouraging for us to play against the Czech Republic because it’s a rival we know perfectly well and we know it’s possible to beat them,” France forward Jennifer Digbeu said.

“Right now, we are in a cloud and the future is unknown.

“If we win against the Czechs, then we can start dreaming of a medal.”

Turkey finished second to the United States in Group A and will take on Russia, the third-place team in Group B, in a rematch of last year’s EuroBasket gold-medal game.

“I think this year we can beat Russia,” Turkey point guard Birsel Vardarli said.

“Last year, we lost in the Final against them and we want to avenge that.

“We have more experience than with respect to last year and we are ready for this game.”

Turkey’s most famous player the past several years, Nevriye Yilmaz, said: "We are playing very well as a team and playing great defense. We want to show our talent and win this game.”

Australia went into the Olympics looking to beat the United States to the gold medal but haven’t looked convincing in any of their games.

They face China in the other Quarter-Final.

If there is a perception that the current Opals squad isn’t as tough as in previous years, coach Carrie Graf disagrees.

“I think we’ve got some street fighters on the team, absolutely,” she said.

“And I think everyone on the team plays likes Aussies.

“We’re not going to roll over.

“We’re going to grind it out, dig it out, scratch it, bite – do whatever it takes to find a way to win.”

FIBA