Cayla George Shines as Australian Opals crush Serbia, Eyes Team USA in Semi-Finals

Cayla George and the Australian Opals medal hunt is well and truly alive, after dominating Serbia 85-67 in the quarter-final of the Paris Olympics.

(From l-r) Serbia's Nadija Smailbegovic, Australia's Cayla George and Serbia's Mina Djordjevic go for a rebound in the women's quarterfinal basketball match between Serbia and Australia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Luis TATO / AFP)

Cayla George and the Australian Opals medal hunt is well and truly alive, after dominating Serbia 85-67 in the quarter-final of the Paris Olympics.

Cairns superstar George has been at the forefront of her side’s rapid turnaround after their shock loss to Nigeria in the opening match.

193cm (6ft 4 inch) machine was an X-factor off the bench once again with 18 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals.

The strong showing follows on from her performance against Canada in game two where she racked up 11 points and three rebounds, before adding eight points and three assists in the 79-72 victory against France.

Australia's Cayla George takes a free throw in the women's quarterfinal basketball match between Serbia and Australia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

In a post game interview after victory over Serbia, an emotional George said how proud she was of the Opals turning their Olympic campaign around.

“In the last couple of Olympics, in (2016) Rio (Serbia) got us in the quarter-final and that was devastating,” she said.

“Tokyo was the campaign that it was, but to make it through to the semi-finals, it’s just an unreal feeling.

“I didn’t realise I was going to get emotional. I’m so stoked with this group. I love these girls. The sisterhood is real and we’ll just keep fighting.”

The 35-year olds experience and ability to play at power forward or centre has been crucial to Australia, particularly with Opals icon Lauren Jackson, 43, sidelined with injury in their past two wins.

Australia's Cayla George tries to block Serbia's Masa Jankovic in the women's quarterfinal basketball match between Serbia and Australia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

Cayla George of Team Australia goes to the basket during the Women's Quarterfinal match between Team Serbia and Team Australia on day twelve of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 07, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images)

George, who plays for WNBL side Sydney Flames, said the team has shown resilience after their tough opening match against Nigeria.

“It’s a bit of chalk and cheese isn’t it, we just like to keep people on their toes,” she joked.

“We just had to get back to what we’re good at. There were nerves, it was the first game of the Olympics, they wanted it more in that game. We got the loss and it hurt real bad, we were humiliated. To come back, we’re a resilient mob and we’ve bounced back well so far.”

Australia's Cayla George fights for the rebound in the women's quarterfinal basketball match between Serbia and Australia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

After back-to-back quarter-final losses at the last two Olympics, Opals will now march into a box office match-up against basketball juggernaut Team USA women’s.

“I think (we will go into the Team USA match with a level of confidence) for sure,” she said.

“Majority of our team plays over in the (United) States anyway. I’m confident with whoever we match up with and they’ll have to guard us too.”

Australian Opals will take on Team USA in the semi-final clash at 1:30am (AEST) Saturday 10 August.

Originally published as Cayla George Shines as Australian Opals crush Serbia, Eyes Team USA in Semi-Finals