WATCH: Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart Come Up Clutch For Team USA

New York Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart came through big for Team USA in the opening leg of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments on Thursday.

The red, white, and blue enjoyed a healthy dose of seafoam on Thursday.

Cluch efforts from New York Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart helped the United States' women's national basketball team escape with a victory in the opening leg of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp. 

Facing an upstart group from host Belgium and a sellout crowd supporting the Cats, Stewart's tip-in with less than a second remaining allowed Team USA to escape with an 81-79 victory. Earlier in the final period, an Ionescu triple capped off an 11-2 to open the fourth quarter, which saw the Americans trailing by nine at the onset before knotting the game at 72.

Team USA (1-0) has already clinched a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by virtue of its 2022 World Cup victory in Sydney. The team has still sought to use the three-game stretch in Antwerp (also featuring bouts with Nigeria and Senegal) to build chemistry and familiarity en route to its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal. 

"We're not going to show up to this event and not take it seriously," Ionescu said after Team USA training camp at Barclays Center over the weekend. "We are USA basketball and to be able to represent your country, we come in with the same intention and that's to win and not to win by a little bit, but to come in and dominate and go for gold every single time that we play. I think that message has started here in training camp and is going to be sent when we get out there as well."

Ranked sixth in the current FIBA standings, the Belgians (0-1) led for most of Thursday's game, their advantage peaking at 13. Point guard Julie Vanloo led the way with a 19-point effort where all but four of her tallies were earned via deep ball. An attendance of 13,700 at the Sportpaleis was good for the largest crowd to take in a women's sporting event in the country's history.

The Americans fought their way back into the game by getting to the foul line (sinking 27-of-31) and forcing turnovers, picking up 32 off Belgian mistakes. Napheesa Collier (Minnesota) led the way with 23 points while Ionescu was a team-best plus-15 in relief. Stewart's heroics, earned off a missed floater from Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas), capped off an eight-point, six-rebound, two-steal day. 

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Team USA returns to action against current tournament leader Nigeria on Friday afternoon (12:15 p.m. ET, Courtside 1891).