Team USAWB was battle tested but went on to defeat Japan for their 51 first Olympic win, 86-69

Tokyo- Team USAWB was tested in the second half, but used their bigs to pull out the victory.

After getting a win over Nigeria, Team USA wanted to continue their hot streak against Japan. Breanna Stewart and crew was very aggressive with getting their offense going early on. For a brief period, Team USA had a 12-5 lead. After allowing Japan to go on a 12-5 run midway in the quarter, Team USA finished on 7-2 run to end the first.

Team USA buckled down on the defensive end in the second and kept Japan from getting into their sets early on. They went into a 2-3 zone and forced Japan to rush or take contested shots. After a few steals and blocked shots late in the quarter, Team USA went on a 10-2 run to close out the half 49-40.

At the start of the second half, Team USA extended their lead to 11, but struggled with getting buckets for four minutes. While Team USA struggled to find the bottom of the net, Japan chipped at the lead and cut it down to five with under five minutes left in the third. Team USA got their offense rolling by going to their bigs. Tina Charles, Stewart, and Wilson scored late in the third to push their lead to double digits at the end of the third.

In the fourth quarter, Team USA put Japan to sleep with going back to their bread and butter. They decided to play inside and out, which allowed their bigs to get easy buckets. Team USA went on to close out the game on a 14-6 run.