A’ja Wilson scored 24 points and Breanna Stewart added 22 to help the US beat Japan 102-76 on Monday night in the Olympic opener for both teams.
The Americans now have a 56-game Olympic winning streak that dates to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The last of those victories before Monday also came against Japan when the two teams played for the gold medal in the Tokyo Games three years ago. The US came away with a 90-75 win for their seventh straight gold medal.
Monday’s victory tipped off the run to keep that streak going.
Japan, who were severely undersized compared to the US, shot threes off drives to the basket to try and keep the game close. It worked for a while: Japan only trailed 37-32 with three minutes left before the half. The US then scored 13 of the final 19 points before the break to open up a double-digit lead.
The Americans, who next play on Thursday against Belgium, put the game away in the third quarter. Chelsea Gray had nifty passes to Wilson for easy scores and the US were off and running. Japan never threatened after that.
Maki Takada scored 24 points, and Mai Yamamoto added 17 for Japan, who hit 15 three-pointers. The US made only four of their 20 three-point attempts.
This was Brittney Griner’s first game internationally since she spent time in a Russian prison in 2022 for drug possession and smuggling. Playing for her country again was a far-fetched idea at that point. Ten months later, she was free after a high-profile prisoner exchange.
Now, 19 months later, she’s suiting up for the US in the Paris Games – her first trip to play overseas since returning from Russia.
Griner was huge in the 2021 gold medal game, scoring 30 points. It was the most points scored by an American player in a gold medal contest. She had 11 points and nine rebounds on Monday. With Wilson grabbing 13, the Americans had a dominating 56-27 advantage on the boards.
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The US had a scary moment in the second quarter when Kahleah Copper collided with Rui Machida and was down for a minute before getting up and walking off, holding her side. She returned in the fourth quarter and looked to be unhurt.
