A sign of respect between the USA and Japan

RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Although the USA trounced Japan 110-64, there were moments in the game in which Japan looked confident and prepared to cause the biggest upset in the tournament.

Mika Kurihara, who scored all 12 of her points from beyond the arc in the first half, later admitted that the Americans' suffocating defense was too much for her to continue raising eyebrows.  

"In the second half they didn't let me breathe, I couldn't get the ball," she said. "In the first half, we played Japanese basketball and we made the Americans sweat a little bit. Coming into the game, we knew they are huge. We had a battle in the paint and we had to play our basketball.. run and run. We had confidence going into the game."

One of the contest's best moments came at the end, when Americans and Japanese posed together for a photo.

"It was a sign of respect," Kurihara pointed out. "They said some good things about us and respected what we did. They said we are a tough team to guard. It was really nice for them to get together and take a picture [with us]."

FIBA