Olympic Games Rio 2016: USA Women vs. Japan Olympic Basketball Schedule, Live Stream
As exciting as they've been, the USA women's basketball team hasn't allowed for much suspense in their run to the semifinals of the Rio Olympics.
Sunday's 105-62 annihilation of China, setting up their match with Japan in Tuesday's semis, wasn't much different. Tuesday's tipoff is at 4:45 p.m. EST on NBC. You can watch a live stream by visiting Rio2016.com.
Led by Britney Griner's 18 points and 13 rebounds and a lineup that features more 6-4 players than any other roster in the tournament, the Americans easily throttled China on the way to their fifth straight blowout win.
Team set to Make History
But wins along may not be enough for this star-studded collection, which is also on its way to smashing the 20-year scoring record set by the 1996 team that started the ongoing stretch of 46 straight victories and five straight gold medals.
Since arriving in Rio, Griner, Tameka Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Tina Charles and Maya Moore have averaged 104.2 points, nearly a basket better than the 1996 team.
The Americans have also topped 100 points in four games and won all five by an average of 41 points.
"They totally physically overwhelm you," said China's coach, Tom Maher. "And their basketball IQ is huge."
So impressive have the Americans proven, even coach Geno Auriemma has been hard pressed to find fault with anything they've done. At least that was the case against China.
"Every single area we marked down that we wanted to accomplish, we accomplished today," he said. "When you have 40 assists, that means something. That's a hell of a thing."
Gold in Sight
With the format now turning to single-elimination, Japan should be warned the Americans promise to be even more fine-tuned.
"We can't relax, lose our focus at all," Moore said. "Our days together are limited."
Team USA Roster
Seimone Augustus
Sue Bird
Tameka Catchings
Tina Charles
Elena Delle Donne
Sylvia Fowles
Britney Griner
Angel McCourtney
Maya Moore
Breanna Stewart
Diana Taurasi
Lindsay Whalen
Japan Roster
Asami Yoshida
Kaede Kondo
Sanae Motokawa
Rui Machida
Naho Miyoshi
Mika Kurihara
Maki Takada
Ramu Tokashiki
Yuki Miyazawa
Moeko Nagaoka
Asako Oh
Yuka Mamiya
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