Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson help Team USA dominate Japan in women’s hoops

The U.S. women’s basketball team’s quest for an eighth straight gold medal got off to a strong start Monday at the Paris Olympics.

Team USA made quick, easy work of Japan to open group play, cruising to a 102-76 win. The relatively supersized frontcourt of Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson led the way — combining for 46 points on 21-of-31 shooting. Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu each added 11, while Chelsea Gray dished out 13 assists.

Japan was overmatched from the opening tip. The U.S.’ size advantage was glaringly obvious. The U.S. scooped up 56 rebounds, to 27 for Japan. The U.S. especially dominated the offensive glass, scooping up 19 of its 35 misses. It had more offensive rebounds than Japan had defensive ones. The law office of Wilson, Griner and Stewart combined for 30 boards — more than the entire Japan squad’s total.

The Japanese did their best to hang around. Maki Takada was a flamethrower off the bench, hitting 10 of her 11 shots for 24 points. Mai Yamamoto paced Japan’s starters with 17 points, draining 5-of-11 from 3-point range. The 3-point arc was the only place Japan had some success Monday. It connected on 15 of 38 from deep, which kept the game somewhat in shouting distance for about 20 minutes.

If the U.S. had one issue, it was its outside shooting. The States shot only 4 of 20 from beyond the arc, but it simply didn’t matter. More important, the U.S. shot 38 of 57 on 2-pointers, a blistering 66.7%. The offensive game plan was incredibly simple: Get the ball into the paint, shoot over undersized defenders and rebound any misses. Japan was at such a deficit inside that it made no difference it was +33 from 3-point range.

For all the discussion leading up to the Games about who was left off the team, Monday’s game was a reminder how much talent remains on the squad in Paris. The U.S. is loaded, and it’s going to be difficult for the competition to keep up.