VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner dominated the paint to help the U.S. win the opening Olympic match as the Americans chased an unprecedented eighth straight gold medal.

Wilson had 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots to help the U.S. to a 102-76 win over Japan on Monday night.

“Points in the paint and controlling the boards are going to be huge for us going forward,” Wilson said. “So if we can keep that going, I think we’ll be in a good place.”

Stewart scored 22 points and the Americans now have a winning streak of 56 Olympic games, dating back to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Three years ago, the US also defeated Japan in the final of the Tokyo Olympics to win their seventh consecutive gold medal.

Monday’s victory kicked off a streak that continues.

“We played this team for a gold medal not too long ago. And the way they play is unorthodox. They shoot a lot of 3s. They’re fast. They make you play a different way,” said Diana Taurasi, who is trying to win an unprecedented sixth gold medal. “And I think you saw those different moments where we struggled a little bit, and then we got used to it.”

Stewart, who is competing in her third Olympics, said she was quite nervous before the competition.

“It was great to get that first win under our belt. A team like Japan is a dangerous team if you really let them go and I think it’s really important to build that confidence,” Stewart said. “And now we kind of know the tone and the standard of, you know, what we’re going to do, game in and game out.”

Japan, badly outplayed by the US, used its frenetic style of three-point shooting on drives to the basket to keep the game exciting.

It worked for about 17 minutes, as Japan trailed 37-32 with 3 minutes and 1 second left before halftime. The U.S. then scored 13 of the final 19 points before halftime, including a three-point play by Wilson with 8.2 seconds left to create a double-digit lead.

“When it came to our strengths, it was our depth and our length,” Wilson said. “And we tried to punish them in the paint, but also on defense, staying in front of them, because Japan is a team that likes to rip and run and they’re not like us. So it made us play outside of our defensive schemes, which kind of locked us in even more, so I’m just happy with the presence that we have.”

The Americans, who play Belgium next Thursday, decided the game in the third quarter. Chelsea Gray had clever passes to Wilson for easy scores and the US was away and running. Japan was never a threat.

Maki Takada scored 24 points and Mai Yamamoto added 17 for Japan, which made 15 3-pointers. The U.S. made just four of its 20 3-point attempts.

This was Griner’s first international match since she was sent to a Russian prison in 2022 after being sentenced to nine years for drug possession and smuggling. At the time, the idea of ​​playing for her country again seemed far-fetched. She was released ten months later in a high-profile prisoner swap.

Now, 19 months later, she is playing for the US at the Olympic Games in Paris, her first time playing overseas since returning from Russia.

Griner was huge in the 2021 gold medal game, scoring 30 points, the most points scored by an American player in a gold medal game.

She had 11 points and nine rebounds on Monday. With Wilson grabbing 13, the Americans had a dominant 56-27 lead on the boards. They also had a huge 64-22 advantage on points inside.

Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum each scored 11 points for the Americans.

The US had a scary moment in the second quarter when Kahleah Copper collided with Rui Machida on Japan and was down for a minute before getting up and walking away and holding her end. She came back in the fourth quarter and looked good.

Coach Cheryl Reeve said she spoke with Copper before bringing her back onto the field and the winger said she was doing well.

The game capped off a busy day of basketball. Nigeria pulled off a surprise win over Australia — only the second in Olympic history for an African nation. Germany won its Olympic debut by beating Belgium, and hosts France defeated Canada in front of a rapturous crowd.