Liberty Stars Best Coach, Australia in Olympic Semifinal

New York Liberty Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu will play for Olympic gold after taking down head coach Sandy Brondello's Australian group.

Jul 29, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; United States forward Breanna Stewart (10) defends during the second half against Japan during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu will have some bragging rights over head coach Sandy Brondello when they return to the New York Liberty practice floors at Barclays Center.

A seafoam semifinal civil war ended in the players' favor, as Stewart, Ionescu, and Team USA dismantled Brondello's Australian national team by an 85-64 final in Friday's Olympic action.

Stewart was the Americans' leading scorer with points, as a realistic bid at a triple-double (6 rebounds, 5 assists) was shut down when she was rested for the entire fourth quarter. Ionescu had a pair of three-pointers en route to eight points and her plus/minus of 11 was best among American reserves.

The Americans, who took home their 60th straight Olympic win, will play for an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal. They await the winner of Friday's second semifinal, which pits Belgium against against host nation France (3 p.m. ET, NBC).

"This is the standard," Stewart said in a postgame interview with NBC Sports host Mike Tirico. "When I first put that USA jersey on, I knew that it's gold or really bust and making sure that every time we're on the court, off the court that we really prepare ourselves to be the best that we can be and continue to reach new heights."

Beyond a brief 2-2 tie, Team USA led wire-to-wire thanks most to an ironclad defensive effort, one that shut down Brondello's group packed to the brim with premier professional experience. Stewart's fellow MVP and American leader A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas) had four blocks in addition to 10 points and eight boards while Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas) had three steals.

Wilson, Napheesa Collier (Minnesota), and Jackie Young (Las Vegas) also had two robberies each, allowing the Americans to swiftly control the transition game: the Americans outscored Australia 28-9 in fast break points and had the game well in hand by the second quarter. Elsewhere among the starters, it was another strong output for Young, who had 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

"I think we just continue to play unselfish basketball, making sure that we're moving the ball, that we're finding the best shot, really starting with our defense and scoring as much as we can in transition," Stewart said. "We know that we have depth that nobody else does in this tournament. We've gotten where we wanted to be now we've got one more game to get the gold medal."

A second unit featuring Ionescu scored the first dozen points in the period and by the time Australia got on the board through a jumper via ex-New Yorker Sami Whitcomb (Seattle) a permanent double-figure lead had been established. To cap off the sterling defensive effort, the Americans played cleanly, allowing no Australian free throw attempts until the final period.

Forced to run into the American buzzsaw once again, the Australians still have a chance to play for their first medal since 2012 on Sunday when they take on Belgium-France runner-up in the bronze medal game (5:45 a.m. ET, USA). Brondello's Opals were paced by 11 points off the bench for Isabel Borlase as the Americans took away their renowned outside prowess (7-of-29 on Thursday).

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