Staff USA’s Brittney Griner (15) performed her first worldwide basketball sport since her detention in Russia. She helped the USA ladies energy by Japan within the opening sport of group play on Monday because the U.S. goals for an unprecedented eighth straight gold medal.
Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP through Getty Photos
disguise caption
toggle caption
Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP through Getty Photos
NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer season Olympics. For extra of our protection from the video games head to our latest updates.
PARIS – The U.S. ladies’s basketball workforce prolonged its historic successful streak on Monday in Lille.
It wasn’t shut.
The workforce, which now boasts a 56-game Olympic winning streak, simply defeated Japan 102-76. A’ja Wilson led the best way for Staff USA with 24 factors and 13 rebounds. Breanna Stewart added 22 factors and eight rebounds.
“We all the time say essentially the most bodily workforce usually will get the win, so we needed to come out and set up ourselves on the stage that we’re on, and I believe we did an excellent job of that at present,” Wilson stated after the sport.
The U.S. final noticed the Japanese workforce within the gold-medal match at the Tokyo Olympics three years in the past. At that assembly, the U.S. got here away with a 90-75 win and a seventh straight gold medal. Now, the Staff USA is hoping to win an eighth straight.
The sport additionally marked a return to worldwide play for Brittney Griner, since she was imprisoned in Russia. She was sentenced to 9 years in jail on drug prices. However in December 2022, she was freed in a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration.
After her launch, she stated she would by no means play abroad once more until suiting up for the U.S. on the Olympics. In Monday’s sport, Griner had 11 factors and 9 rebounds.
“Truthfully, I believe it was unimaginable for BG to be again on the Olympics,” stated Stewart of her teammate. “Something that she does going ahead, and the best way that she handles herself, and being right here, being abroad, being a dominant power down low, I am actually happy with her.”
The U.S. workforce will subsequent play Belgium on Thursday.
Loading…
