The U.S. will face Japan in a Paris Olympics women’s basketball Group C game Monday in Lille, France to begin its quest for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal with Kelsey Plum, who was raised in Poway, among five newcomers.
The 5-foot-8-inch point guard will be seeking her second Olympic gold medal. She was part of the U.S. women’s 3×3 team that won the gold medal at the Tokyo Games, the first time the event was held.
Plum was scoreless in six minutes off the bench, as the U.S. concluded exhibition play by defeating Germany, 84-57, Tuesday in London. Plum missed three shots. had three assists and pulled down one rebound.
Plum led La Jolla County Day to the 2012 CIF Division IV state championship. She scored a then-NCAA-record 3,527 points in her four seasons at Washington, including the single-season record, 1,109, as a senior in the 2016- 17 season.
The career record was broken by Iowa guard Caitlin Clark Feb. 15, who finished her career with 3,951 points. Clark also broke Plum’s single-season scoring record, completing the 2023-24 season with 1,234 points.
Plum was the first overall selection in the 2017 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars. The team moved to Las Vegas before the start of the 2018 season. She was an All-WNBA first-team selection in 2022, helping lead the Aces to the first of two back-to-back championships.
The other newcomers are guard Jackie Young, a teammate of Plum’s on the U.S. gold medal-winning 3×3 team from the Tokyo Games and Las Vegas, Phoenix Mercury guard-forward Kahleah Copper, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas.
Diana Taurasi, who will be appearing in a record sixth consecutive Olympics, is among seven players returning from the gold medal-winning team from the Tokyo Olympics, along with her Phoenix teammate, center Brittney Griner, two other Aces — guard Chelsea Gray and center A’ja Wilson — Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd and Liberty forward Breanna Stewart.
Monday’s U.S.-Japan game is a rematch of the Americans’ 90-75 victory in the gold medal game of the Tokyo Olympics, with Griner scoring 30 points, making 14 of 18 shots.
Japan returns nine players from its team in the Tokyo Olympics. Its roster consists of 11 players who play in Japan and power forward Stephanie Mawuli, who plays in Spain and was cut by the New York Liberty May 11, three days before the start of the regular season.
All the U.S. players play in the WNBA.
The U.S. is first in the rankings by FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, based on its performance in top official FIBA competitions and its qualifiers over an 8-year period. Japan is ranked ninth.
The Americans are 4-1 against Japan in Olympic play, with the only loss coming in the opening game of the 1976 Montreal Games, the first time women’s basketball was included in the Olympics.
The U.S. has won 55 consecutive games since a 79-73 semifinal loss to the Unified Team — which consisted of athletes from 12 of the 15 former Soviet republics that chose to compete together — in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The Americans are 72-3 in Olympic play, with two of the losses coming in 1976 when they won a silver medal behind the Soviet Union.
The noon Pacific Daylight Time game will be televised by USA Network.
