Group A:
The last set of group stage games started with a pair of games on Sunday. Spain won the group by prevailing 76-66 behind Astou Ndour. Serbia was not particularly convincing, but did win 65-61 to clinch second while eliminating South Korea. Their margin was not enough to grab the last seed and the result left Canada with a long wait to see if they would advance as a third-place team.
August 1, 2021
Canada vs. Spain 66-76 CAN Nurse 14 Achonwa 11/6r Amihere 10/6r Carleton 9/6r Fields 9 Ayim 6 Raincock-Ekunwe 4/6r Pellington 3 Colley 0 Alexander 0 Gaucher DNP Edwards DNP ESP Ndour 20/11r Ouvina 15/7a Torrens 12 Gil 8/7r Casas 8 Carrera 6 Dominguez 4 Cazorla 2 Palau 1 Conde 0 Rodriguez DNP Abalde DNP
South Korea vs. Serbia 61-65 KOR Park J-H 17/7r Kim D-B 15/6r Park J-S 8/11r Park H-J 8 Yoon 7 Kang 6/6r Jin 0 Bae 0 Shin 0 Kin J-E 0 Han DNP An DNP SRB Crvendakic 15/7r Krajisnik 14/6r Anderson 12 Brooks 11 Stankovic 8/6r Dabovic 3 Vasic 2/10r Butulija 0 Skoric 0 Cado 0 Jovanovic 0 Dugalic DNP
Standings: Spain 3-0, Serbia 2-1, Canada 1-2, South Korea 0-3
Group B:
The last group stage games were played on Monday. Saki Hayashi led Japan as they let it fly from distance early and often on their way to a 102-83 win over Nigeria. France was looking to avoid elimination in the next game and played well early before A’ja Wilson led the United States to a 93-82, which was a small enough margin to send France through.
August 2. 2021
Nigeria vs. Japan 83-102 NGR Macaulay 18 Chidom 13/7r Kalu 11/6a Amukamara 9 Elonu 8/7r Nyingifa 8/8a Ibekwe 7 Balogun 5 Mohammed 2 Okonkwo 2 Ogwumike 0 Kunaiyi-Akpanah 0 JPN Hayashi 23 Miyazawa 19 Takada 15 Akaho 12/7r Motohashi 10 Mawuli 8 Todo 4 Okoye 3 Miyoshi 3 Miyazaki 3 Nagaoka 2 Machida 0/15a
France vs. United States 82-93 FRA Miyem 15 Gruda 12/6r Johannes 11/7a Rupert 11 Williams 10 Chartereau 10 Vukosavljevic 7 Duchet 4 Fauthoux 2 Michel 0 Ciak 0 Tchatchouang DNP USA Wilson 22/7r Stewart 17/7r/7a Charles 15 Griner 11 Fowles 9 Bird 6 Gray 5 Diggins 3 Taurasi 3 Loyd 2/8a Atkins DNP Collier DNP
Standings: United States 3-0, Japan 2-1, France 1-2, Nigeria 0-3
Group C:
The battle for the top spot in this group saw China use a strong second half to win 74-62. The margin was still enough for Emma Meesseman Belgium to comfortably claim the last seeded position in the knockout stage draw. Australia knew exactly how many points that they would need to win by in the last game to advance. Jazmon Gwathmey and Puerto Rico were not ready to just hand them the result that they needed and it looked like a longshot for most of the game. Australia had the advantage in the paint and Marianna Tolo helped them do enough in the second half to win 96-69 and avoid elimination.
August 2, 2021
China vs. Belgium 74-62 CHN Li YR 14/8r Li M 11/7r Pan 10 Yang 10 Shao 9 Li Y 7 Han 6 Huang 4 Wang 3/6a Sun 0 Zhang 0 Wu DNP BEL Meesseman 24/7r Allemand 12 K. Mestdagh 12 Raman 7 Delaere 5 Vanloo 2 Massey 0 Linskens 0 Carpreaux 0 H. Mestdagh 0 Wauters DNP Nauwelaers DNP
Australia vs. Puerto Rico 96-69 AUS Tolo 26/17r George 19/7r O’Hea 15 Mitchell 12/6a Magbegor 10 Allen 5 Ebzery 4 Lavey 3 Blicavs 2 Madgen 0 Talbot DNP Smith DNP PUR Gwathmey 26/6r Rosado 13 O’Neill 12 Gibson 10/6r Quinones 3 Melendez 3 Salaman 2 Pagan 0 Gonzalez 0 Lozada 0 Stinson DNP Benitez DNP
Standings: China 3-0, Belgium 2-1, Australia 1-2, Puerto Rico 0-3
Bracket:
After the games were complete, the draw was made for the knockout stage with the three group winners and Belgium in one pot and the remaining teams in the other pot. Teams could not draw teams from their group and Belgium, as the second-place seed, could not draw Australia or France since those were the third-place teams.
Australia vs. United States
China vs. Serbia
Japan vs. Belgium
Spain vs. France