For USA women, gap closing in basketball

SAITAMA, Japan — It’s been nearly 30 years since the U.S. women’s basketball team lost a game in the Olympics, yet the Americans showed they may be a bit vulnerable in Tokyo after dropping a pair of exhibition contests last week in Las Vegas.

Despite losses to a team of WNBA All-stars and Australia, the U.S. remains an overwhelming favorite to win a seventh consecutive gold medal. If the Americans win gold, it would mark the fifth for Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi — the most in women’s basketball history.

Having a week together to train in Tokyo before playing against Nigeria in the opener has helped, players say.

“I see progression, I see where we’re getting better,” U.S. coach Dawn Staley said.

The Americans haven’t dropped an Olympic contest since 1992, winning 49 consecutive games since they were beaten in the semis by the Unified Team.

Of the teams playing in Tokyo, only host Japan has beaten the U.S. in Olympic competition, topping the Americans in 1976, the debut of women’s basketball at the Montreal Games. No team has gotten within single digits of the U.S. since Russia lost in the semifinals of the 2004 Athens Games — the first Olympics that Bird and Taurasi played in.

Staley believes there will be more competitive games in Japan.

After the U.S., the competition to reach the medal stand is wide open. Australia, Belgium, France, Canada, Serbia, Spain and host Japan are medal contenders.

“Everyone’s getting better and taking this thing a lot more serious than they have in a long, long time. not to say we aren’t taking it seriously,” Staley said. “It’s getting better. People are investing in women.”

Serbia won bronze in the 2016 Olympics and returns most of the same players from that team.

“We are much more mature than in Rio, and I feel like that is a thing we can probably use to our advantage because you know most of this generation is toward the end,” Serbian team captain Sonja Vasić said.

Games begin Monday with the bronze medal game on Aug. 7 and the gold medal contest the next day to close out the Olympics.