Faced with their first test of the ongoing Rio Olympics, the Team USA women's basketball team turned to a proven combination in ultimately racing to a blowout win over Japan in the quarterfinal round of play on Tuesday.

Olympic veterans Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore each netted 19 points as the Americans overcame a sluggish start and just a 10-point halftime cushion in eventually cruising to a 110-64 win.

Next up for the Americans is a semifinal round battle against France, scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. on NBC. You can watch a live stream by visiting Rio2016.com.

Second Half Dominace

It the early going, the win over Japan bore little resemblance to the way the Americans have crushed all competition over their first several games. To add to the drama, Japan reeled off a 10-2 second quarter spurt to close to as tight as 48-46 just before halftime.

Soon after that, Taurasi and Moore had apparently seen enough, leading the Americans on a 54-18 second half eruption that proved so impressive the Japanese team was mugging for pictures with Team USA players as soon as the final horn had sounded.

Team USA also comes in against France still on pace to smash the 20-year-old team scoring record of 102.4 points per game set by the 1996 Olympic squad that started the program's current run of five straight gold medals and 47 consecutive Olympic victories.

Meanwhile, Australia, the last team to actually hold a halftime lead over the Americans, saw their dreams of a rematch dashed in a 73-71 loss to Serbia.

Bird's Status

The lone damper for Team USA was an early right knee injury suffered by Sue Bird that sidelined her for the entire second half.

Bird later told reporters she heard something "pop" in her knee and she is slated to undergo further evaluation.

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