U.S. women advance on an especially emotional day for Brittney Griner.

American center “head over heels happy” about prisoner swap as Team USA holds off Belgium to earn spot in Olympic quarterfinals

Basketball star Brittney Griner, who was freed in a prisoner swap with Russia in 2022, took the court Thursday for the United States at the Paris Olympics just hours after another prisoner swap freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Brittney Griner stood with her teammates as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played, 20 months after she was freed in a prisoner swap with Russia and just hours after the United States and Russia agreed to another deal that brought home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former marine Paul Whelan following their lengthy detentions.

Though she remained stoic and betrayed little emotion during the national anthem and then went about her business, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds as the U.S. women’s basketball team claimed a hard-fought 87-73 win over Belgium on Thursday, Griner said that she was “definitely emotional” upon hearing the news.

“It’s a great day,” said Griner, who is competing internationally for the first time since she was released from a Russian prison in December 2022. “Head over heels happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home is a win.”

Griner, 33, was arrested on drug smuggling charges in February 2022 while playing for a Russian team and was later sentenced to nine years in prison. After spending several months in jail, Griner was released as part of a prisoner exchange involving Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. The 10-time WNBA all-star resumed her professional basketball career in May 2023, and she is chasing what would be her third Olympic gold medal with the U.S. women’s team this summer.

Video Shows Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout in Prisoner Swap

Griner, who is a backup center for the United States, said that Gershkovich and the other freed prisoners can look forward to having an excellent support system upon their return to the United States.

“I know they have an amazing group of people to help them out in whatever way they need, them and their families,” Griner said. “I’m glad I was able to go through that program and get reacclimated back into everyday life.”

U.S. women’s basketball coach Cheryl Reeve said that she shared a moment with Griner after Thursday’s victory over Belgium. The Americans clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, which start Wednesday in Paris.

“We’re extremely happy for the families,” Reeve said. “The prisoners have endured an awful, awful time without their family members. As soon as I read it, I thought of Brittney. I know how happy she is. … She knows, for her, what that was like. She seemed okay, but that’s Brittney. She always seems okay. We’ll be checking on her.”

While Griner held her emotions close to the vest, the Americans had to grind out a tough victory in front of a rowdy pro-Belgium crowd of more than 25,000. Rows of supporters in black, yellow and red wigs jumped up and down during timeouts and chanted “Belgium” in hopes of inspiring a historic upset. Lille, the host city of the opening round of the women’s basketball tournament, is a short drive from the Belgian border.

Belgium (1-1), ranked sixth in the world by FIBA, trailed by just four points midway through the third quarter. But Team USA (2-0) was able to avoid its first loss at the Olympics since 1992 by ramping up its defense down the stretch.

“They’re just a really good team,” U.S. guard Diana Taurasi said. “They’re probably one of the best teams in the world. It just shows how much they love basketball in Europe. These are the atmospheres you get. They have a soccer feel to them. I heard they drink a lot of Belgian beer here. I expected a lot of Belgians here because they’re just 30 minutes away.”

WNBA MVPs Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson led the Americans just as they had during an opening win over Japan on Monday. Stewart scored 11 of her game-high 26 points in the first quarter, while Wilson fended off Belgium’s physical defense to finish with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

The frontcourt duo of Stewart and Wilson helped make up for a poor showing from the American backcourt, which got just eight points combined from Taurasi, Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. However, Ionescu put the finishing touches on the victory by sinking a deep three-pointer in the closing seconds and putting a finger to her lips to silence the Belgian crowd.

“I love when the crowd goes against us,” Wilson said. “That’s the beautiful thing about our game is playing in those atmospheres, proving people wrong and wanting to hush the crowd a little bit. … I wasn’t really afraid. Anytime we have a lead, I’m never going to be afraid. I don’t care how close it is: It could be one [point] or 100. I’m always going to have faith in what we do, and I’m always knowing we can pull away.”

The Americans were able to move past a third-quarter scoring lull by forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. Emma Meesseman, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP while a member of the Washington Mystics, led Belgium with 20 points and four rebounds.

Team USA will close out Group C play against Germany (2-0) on Sunday. The Americans defeated the Germans, 84-57, in a July 23 exhibition in London, and a convincing victory could help them head into the quarterfinals with the tournament’s top point differential. Through two games, France (2-0) is plus-42 and the United States is plus-39.

To claim their eighth straight Olympic gold, the Americans could very well find themselves needing to defeat the French on their home soil. It’s hard to imagine better preparation for that task than surviving such a strong scare from Belgium in Lille.

“Anytime you play the host country, it’s going to be insane,” Stewart said. “I haven’t been here when [France] has been playing but I can imagine the crowd was very similar to this. That being said, we’re focused on Germany.”