Olympics: The US women’s basketball team holds off Japan to stay unbeaten in Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan - Team USA is still getting the job done so far in the 2020 Tokyo games, but Japan wouldn’t go away quietly during their second preliminary game on Friday.
A'ja Wilson (24) led the Americans to an impressive 86-69 win to improve their winning streak to 51 straight games.
Wilson scored a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds as Team USA now sits at 2-0 in their Olympic pool. Brianna Stewart and Brittany Griner added 15 points apiece.
The first quarter saw Japan dropping a surprising 30 points on Team USA, but then the Americans turned things around in the second quarter and never looked back from that point on.
They shored up their defense and held the Japanese to only 10 points in the second quarter. USA’s defense kept the pressure on and only allowed another 29 points to seal the win.
At times, it did seem like Japan was threatening USA’s lead, staying within single-digit deficits, but they just couldn’t get enough shots to fall after starting out with six threes in the first quarter alone.
USA legend Sue Bird went 1-for-8 shooting the ball, but managed to make other plays during the game to help keep the Japanese at bay. Her fellow veteran teammate Diana Taurasi also pitched in with 11 points.
The women of Team USA will face France next in their third preliminary game on Monday.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire