Another game, another win, another win by a wide margin, and a trip to the semifinals.
Stop us if you have heard this one before—USA Basketball Women’s National Team wins via blowout at the Olympics. This time, it was Japan that could not handle the offense, defense, and depth of Team USA as the defending gold medal winners topped Japan 110-64.
But this game was not entirely a done deal for Team USA until the second half, where a 56-46 advantage at the half suddenly turned into a 22 point lead in the third quarter, and the eventual 46-point victory.
Playing nearly 30 minutes, Diana Taurasi had another huge performance, scoring 19 points and going five-for-eight from three-point range. Complimenting Taurasi’s 19 points were 19 from Maya Moore who shot 78 percent from the field. Angel McCoughtry put in 13 and Elena Delle Donne had 11.
Ramu Tokashiki’s Olympic Games will end with a 14-point outing. Sanae Motokawa and Mika Kurihara also had 12 each. But points do not matter much when you are outrebounded by a margin of 50-26, which is what happened to Japan in this game.
Interestingly enough, the next Summer Olympics will be in Japan. Perhaps the team will have better fortunes playing in front of its home fans.
But as for Team USA—they find themselves in a very familiar position—closing in on another gold medal. The semifinals will take place on Thursday as Team USA faces off against France, who won its quarterfinal matchup against Canada in come-from-behind fashion. That game, a rematch of the Gold Medal Game from the London Olympics, will take place at 6:00 p.m. ET.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
