Team USA’s women’s basketball score vs Japan, Tokyo Olympics: USA wins seventh consecutive gold

The American women’s basketball team is once again Olympic champion. On Saturday night, they used another dominant performance to beat Japan, 90-75, in the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics. This is the seventh consecutive gold medal for the United States, which is tied for the longest streak in team sport history, and its Olympic winning streak is now 55 matches.

Team USA had a huge size advantage in this game and made sure to use it early and often. Brittney Griner led the way with 30 points, five rebounds and three blocks, while A’ja Wilson added 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five blocks. As a team, the Americans scored 58 points in the paint and blocked 12 shots. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, the two veterans of this team, made their own history by becoming the first players, men or women, to win five Olympic gold medals.

While Japan did not get the result they hoped for in this match, they won the silver medal after a brilliant run in this tournament. This was only their fifth appearance at the Olympics, and before this year they had never finished better than fifth. Winning a medal for the first time will always be special, but doing it as a host nation is even better.

Here are four key points of the game:

1. The dynasty continues

The United States women’s basketball team is one of the most dominant dynasties in the history of the sport and extended its reign with a seventh consecutive gold medal in Tokyo. This tied the United States men’s basketball team (1936-1968) for the longest gold medal streak in team sport history. In Paris in 2024, they will have a chance to seize the record, and based on how this summer unfolds, they will once again be the big favorites.

While seven back-to-back gold medals are pretty impressive, the Americans did it without losing a single game. The victory over Japan extended their winning streak at the Olympics to a remarkable 55 consecutive games. In their last loss at the Olympics in the semi-finals in 1992, six of the players on this current squad weren’t even born yet.

You can churn out all kinds of stats about the race, but here is perhaps the most ridiculous: They won 53 of 55 double-digit games. They have the same number of single-digit wins (two) as they have 60-point wins (two).

2. Taurasi and Bird make history

The bigger story is obviously from a team perspective, and for good reason. But it was also a historic performance for two legends of the American team: Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. With the victory over Japan, this duo became the first basketball player – male or female – to win five Olympic gold medals.

Bird, now 40, was competing in her last Olympics. She stepped out in style, becoming the oldest female basketball player to win a gold medal in Olympic history. Taurasi, perhaps jokingly, said after the game, “See you in Paris.” Whether she’ll be able to play in 2024, of course, remains to be seen, but if that was it for her, it was also a great way out. She finished with seven points, six rebounds and eight assists.

3. Griner and Wilson dominate inside

The United States team has a strong advantage against almost every other team, but it is particularly pronounced against Japan. The average size of the Japanese starting lineup in this game was only 5-foot-9, and they don’t have a single player over 6-foot-1 on the roster.

It’s obviously a huge problem against an American team with the best frontcourt in the world. As expected, Team USA entered early and often, and Japan had absolutely no response. Brittney Griner (30 points) and A’ja Wilson (19 points) combined for 49 of Team USA’s 90 points, and added a total of 12 rebounds and eight blocks. Griner’s chart of plans, in particular, is almost comical.

As a team, the Americans made just eight shots outside the paint throughout the game and won the points in the paint battle 58-40. They also blocked 12 shots and passed Japan 44-38.

4. Japan gets its first medal

The Japanese women’s basketball team has been a force in Asia for decades, but has not had much success on the world stage. This was only their fifth appearance at the Olympics, and before this year they had never finished higher than fifth in 1976 – and even that is a bit misleading considering that there were only six teams in the game. the tournament that year.

Heading into this tournament, they weren’t expected to be among the medals again, especially with star striker Ramu Tokashiki injured. In fact, before the last match of the group stage, it wasn’t even a guarantee that they would advance to the round of 16. But they took care of the affairs against Nigeria, which had a remarkable run.

First of all, they surprised Belgium in the quarter-finals with a 3-point winner from Saki Hayashi in the dying seconds. This set up a semi-final showdown with France, which they had previously beaten in the group stage. The second meeting was not as interesting as the first, and Japan took a 16-point victory thanks to strong 3-pointers.

While the dream race ended against the United States on Saturday, Japan still won the silver medal. It’s the first Olympic medal the country has ever won in basketball, and doing it at home only makes it even more special.