Breanna Stewart and the United States looked dominant defensively as they beat Canada 83-43 on Friday to qualify for gold at the women’s basketball world championships for the fourth consecutive tournament.

Stewart scored 17 points and the Americans took an early lead to defeat a team from Canada whose 43 points are the lowest in World Cup semifinals history.

“Canada played very well throughout the tournament and the goal was to go out there and really limit them,” said Alyssa Thomas of the United States. “We didn’t really close early with our game plan.”

The Americans will face China on Saturday, who beat Australia 61-59. The Chinese team lost to the United States by 14 points in the group stage, the closest game of the tournament for the Americans.

“Our goal was to win a gold medal and we are in a position to do that,” said USA coach Cheryl Reeve.

USA (7-0), maintaining a tournament record pace for points and margin of victory, took control of the opener by scoring the first 15 points. The Americans challenged every play on defense and the Canadians missed their first nine shots from the field. Offensively, Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas hit just about everything they tried.

“I think after that hit they really ran out of air,” Thomas said. “After that, they didn’t know what to do with their offence.”

Laeticia Amihere, who plays in South Carolina for former United States coach Dawn Staley, finally put Canada on the scoreboard nearly five minutes after kickoff.

At the end of the first quarter, the United States already led 27-7. Canada had committed four turnovers, the same number they suffered in the entire game against Puerto Rico in the quarter-finals, which was the lowest total in a game in 30 years.

The Americans led 45-21 at halftime and the lead continued to grow in the final 20 minutes. The win was the biggest margin for the United States in the Round of 16, surpassing a 36-point victory over Spain in the 2010 World Cup.

Canada (5-2) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1986 and has a shot at winning its first medal since winning bronze that year.

“We weren’t successful today, but what we’re going to do is take what we learned today and how we can improve on it tomorrow,” said Canadian captain Natalie Achonwa. “We still have a game (against Australia) for a medal and that’s just as important for us.”

It was the 29th consecutive World Cup victory for the Americans, who had not lost since the 2006 semi-finals against Russia. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 consecutive victories between 1959 and 1986. This is the second time in history that the United States has reached four consecutive Women’s World Cup finals. They also did it from 1979 to 1990, winning three.

The Americans are averaging 101 points per game and their previous record was 99.1, set in 1994.