The Team USA Women’s Basketball National Team began the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday with a 102-76 win against Japan as the team seeks to win its eighth straight gold medal.
This game was a rematch of the gold medal match from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Team USA defeated Japan 90-75 to secure the first-place finish.
Team USA Women’s Basketball has extended its winning streak in Olympic play to an incredible 56 games, a streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, per NBA.com.
Although the Americans ended the game with a large lead, the team began the game slower. They had a seven-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, leading Japan by only 11 points at halftime.
Shots began falling for Team USA more consistently in the second half as the third quarter ended with the Americans up by 22 points, maintaining this large lead throughout the rest of the game to secure the win.
Diana Taurasi, who now seeks to win a sixth gold medal of her career, said Japan is very different from most other teams, and there were moments where Team USA “struggled a little bit” to figure out the team’s play style.
“We played this team for a gold medal, you know, not too long ago. And the way they play is unorthodox. They shoot a lot of threes. They’re fast. They make you play in a different style,” she said, per NBA.com.
The Americans were led by center A’ja Wilson and forward Breanna Stewart, combining for 46 points, 21 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 blocks.
Team USA Head Coach Cheryl Reeve said after the game that it is “nice having a duo that plays so well off of each other” while also crediting the rest of the roster for the chemistry displayed in the first Olympic game.
“But I think more than that, I’m just excited to have such an unselfish group of really great players that don’t care who gets the credit,” she explained, per USAB.com.
This unselfish style of play began with guard Chelsea Gray leading the team with an incredible 13 assists and only one turnover in more than 20 minutes of action. The entire team accumulated 35 assists while only turning the ball over 12 times.
Team USA is set to continue the group stage of the Olympics with a game against Belgium on Thursday, followed by a match against Germany on August 4.
