PARIS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 20 points and Jackie Young added 15 points to help the U.S. beat Nigeria 88-74 on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals, extending its record winning streak to 59 consecutive Olympic wins.
Breanna Stewart also had 13 for the Americans, who haven’t lost since the 1992 Barcelona Games and are now two victories away from an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal. They will face a familiar foe in Australia in the semifinals on Friday night.
The Opals routed Serbia 85-67. The other medal round game will feature host France playing Belgium.
The loss ended a historic run by Nigeria, which became the first African country to qualify for the Olympic basketball quarterfinals.
After getting off to slow starts the last few games, the U.S. altered it’s starting lineup inserting Young for Diana Taurasi. It was the first time Taurasi didn’t start since her first Olympics in 2004.
