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The United States was tested for the first time at the Women's Basketball World Cup, before grinding out an 88-55 quarterfinal win over Serbia in Sydney.
- Kelsey Plum scores 17 points to lead the scoring for the US
- The win was the 28th in a row for the US at World Cup tournaments
- The Opals play Belgium in the quarterfinals
After a slow start, the US used a dominant run spanning the half to take control of the game and reach the semifinals.
Alyssa Thomas played a key role in the win with 13 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.
"I think you expect every team's best punch in the first quarter," Thomas said.
"We just had to settle into the game and once we settled in, then we were really able to break away."
Kelsey Plum scored 17 points and A'ja Wilson added 15 to lead the US (6-0), who will face Canada in the semifinals on Friday.
Canada defeated Puerto Rico 79-60 in their quarterfinal.
"They (Serbia) played super physical, more physical than we've seen the entire tournament," Plum said.
"Credit to them. I felt that early on their pressure bothered us a little bit, but we were able to kind of get under control."
The US had run through pool play, winning by 46.2 points per game and had not faced any kind of challenge until meeting Serbia.
The victory was the 28th in a row in World Cup play for the US. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 straight wins from 1959-86.
After going unbeaten in pool play again, the US reached at least the semifinals for the 12th consecutive tournament, dating to 1975.
The Opals will play Belgium on Thursday night in their quarterfinal, with the winner to face either France or China in the last four.
AP/ABC