Stewart wants to bring home third gold

Liberty star helps U.S. reach Olympic quarterfinals

August 6, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Team USA pulled away from Germany to grab the top seed in Wednesday's Olympic quarterfinals in the 2024 Paris Olympics women's basketball tournament. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill

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Breanna Stewart already has a pair of gold medals in her collection after rising to the top of the podium with her U.S. teammates in Rio and Tokyo.

Now, the New York Liberty forward and reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player is three wins away from a third consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“It’s what you want in the Olympics,” Stewart insisted after scoring a game-high 26 points in last Thursday’s 87-74 victory over Belgium in Villenueve D’Ascq, France.

The Americans only needed two convincing wins to earn a quarterfinal spot, but also emerged with an 87-68 triumph over previously unbeaten Germany on Sunday to finish with a 3-0 mark in group-play.

That win before a crowd of 25,844 at Pierre Mauroy Stadium secured the top overall seed in the eight-team knockout round for Team USA, which has won 58 straight games at the Olympics and is bidding for its eighth consecutive gold medal.

Stewart, who won a pair of WNBA titles and Finals MVPs during her tenure with the Seattle Storm before arriving in Downtown Brooklyn last season, is also trying to help the Liberty grab their first-ever league championship this year.

New York (21-4), which lost in four tough games to Las Vegas in last season’s WNBA Finals, entered the Olympic break with the league’s best record and will return to action Aug. 15 in Los Angeles against the Sparks.
But first things first.

“I hope when we get to LA, we have that (gold medal), you know, because the amount of pride in representing your country is. It’s like no other,” she said.

On Wednesday, Team USA has the challenge of knocking off Nigeria (2-1) or being sent home.

The first African team to advance this far in an Olympic tournament stunned Liberty coach Sandy Brondello’s Opals from Australia in last week’s opening game before securing the eighth and final spot in the knockout stage with Sunday’s 79-70 win over Canada.

Stewart had 13 points against a German squad that featured Liberty rotation regulars Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally in Paris.

Sabally missed the contest while remaining in concussion protocol, but Fiebich contributed 10 points and picked up a pair of steals for Germany (2-1), which will meet France (2-1) Wednesday in the knockout stage.

U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve can rely on bench players like Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu as the Americans shoot for their eighth straight gold medal in Paris. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill

Liberty All-Star guard and midseason WNBA MVP candidate Sabrina Ionescu, who is competing in her first Olympiad, scored six points and handed out five assists off the bench against Germany on Sunday.

The reigning two-time Eastern Conference Player of the Month helped the Americans show off their depth as the reserves accounted for 52 points in the group-stage finale.

“We’re not the USA dynasty without it,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said. “I think it’s what defines the dynasty is the depth of talent that the USA has.”

Brondello’s Opals (2-1) also survived the group stage with Sunday’s 79-72 win over France.

Captain Tess Magden scored 18 points off the bench for the Aussies, who will meet Serbia (2-1) on Wednesday with a chance to reach the semifinals and grab their first medal since 2012.

Nets coach Jordi Fernandez is getting closer to grabbing Team Canada’s first medal in Olympic men’s basketball since the 1936 Berlin Games.

The 41-year-old Baradona, Spain native helped the Canadiens to a perfect 3-0 run through group-stage play, and will have his squad ready to take on host France (2-1) Tuesday at noon.

Team Canada grabbed the top spot in Group A and the third seed in the quarterfinals by beating Spain, emerging unbeaten from what many predicted would be the “Group of Death”.

Fernandez agreed with that assessment despite his team’s unblemished record.

“We’ve played with Game 7 mentality because we played in the toughest pool in the Olympics,” Fernandez said. “Even though it was not truly a Game 7, because once you play Game 1 you still had two more to go. We also knew that these teams are so good that we cannot relax.”