Rohan Nadkarni is a sports reporter for NBC News.
The U.S. women’s basketball team’s quest for an eighth straight gold medal got off to a strong start Monday. 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.
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. They 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.
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