RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Japanese womens basketball team talked the upbeat pregame talk that any team worth a nickel usually does. But once this quarterfinal knockout game at the Rio Summer Olympics started, the Japanese were actually backing the talk up against the heavily favored U.S. as if theyd cribbed every trick that prohibitive underdogs from Princeton to Chaminade, Danny & the Miracles to Jackie Stiles and Southeastern Oklahoma State used once upon a time.The Japanese cut, they curled off well-set screens, they dribbled and drove and made kickout passes to perimeters shooters who shot like they never expected to miss. For a while it was so effective you might have expected to see Pete Carril in their huddle during a timeout. They played a now you see us, now you dont brand of uptempo basketball that dared the Americans to keep up, but they brought out the best in the Americans, too. The U.S. was grateful for the push.Japan trailed by as little as 46-44 near the end of the second quarter before the U.S. quashed any thoughts of a monumental upset and limited Japan to just 18 points over the last two quarters for a 110-64 win.We needed this kind of game, we needed this, American guard Angel McCoughtry said.They were hard to handle, they had us worried, Diana Taurasi said. That was the first time we went into the locker room here and said, Weve got to get this going.The U.S. now moves into Thursdays semifinal round opposite France, which defeated Canada on Tuesday. Spain plays in the other semifinal against Serbia, the reigning European champs who upset Australia earlier in the day 73-71, sending the Aussies home without a medal for the first time since 1992.For an American team that has steamrolled its way through these Olympic Games by winning its first five game by an average margin of 40 points, you could tell parts of this game were fun. The Americans had a total of only 10 days of practice together to prepare for these Games, and until they were tested like this, McCoughtry said, they didnt really know how theyd respond.The answer, as it turned out, was that everyone played well. The U.S. shot 67 percent from the field against the undersized Japanese team, whose tallest player is 6-foot-3.The only downbeat outcome of the game for the U.S. was that Sue Bird, the teams four-time Olympic point guard, left the game after suffering an undisclosed knee injury in a second-quarter collision. On the advice of the team trainer and doctors, she didnt return. When asked after the game if she was OK as she was walking through the mixed zone press area, Bird nodded and said, Oh yeah.Taurasi said, Hopefully everything will check out OK in the morning.Bird always tried to tell people the womens basketball team will have a game or two at every international competition thats interesting like this. She swears these Olympic competitions arent automatic American wins. But its always a hard sell.The American women have won five straight gold medals. Theyre riding a 47-game winning streak. The gap between them and the rest of the worlds Olympic teams seems to have gotten wider in the last three or four Olympics, not narrower. But theres a generational shift underway, too. Thirty-somethings such as Bird, Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus -- nearly half of the 12-player roster -- will almost surely be retired by the next Summer Games.Japan will host those Olympics, in Tokyo.So remember this night.American coach Geno Auriemma called Japans offense as good as Ive ever seen as far as how quickly they move the ball and how quickly they move themselves.Taurasi said Japan is just a couple of pieces away from being one of the top four or five teams in the world.But not only that.Whewwww, said McCoughtry, the U.S. teams most vocal worrier, exhaling heavily. 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STANFORD, Calif. -- With a young quarterback making his second career start, Stanford coach David Shaw was fully comfortable having his team run the ball on its final 29 plays from scrimmage.With a backfield tandem of 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist Christian McCaffrey and promising sophomore Bryce Love, Shaws decision was really a no-brainer.McCaffrey rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown, Love scored on a 56-yard touchdown run and Stanford beat Oregon State 26-15 on Saturday afternoon.Conrad Ukropina kicked a career-high four field goals, including a personal best-tying 52-yarder in the first half, to help the Cardinal (6-3, 4-3 Pac-12) become bowl eligible.We were running the ball for six yards a clip, theyre getting a little bit tired and weve got two running backs we can rotate through there, Shaw said of his decision to keep the ball on the ground over the final 20 minutes. When youve got an offensive line thats feeling good and creating creases, and two running backs that are getting better and better, (with) a two-score lead . why put it up in the air? Lets ground this thing and lets end the game.Stanford sputtered offensively much of the day and had to overcome three fumbled snaps by quarterback Keller Chryst but held on to win its seventh straight against Oregon State (2-7, 1-5).The Cardinal did it behind another strong outing by its defense, which intercepted Beavers quarterback Marcus McMaryion twice in the second half.More importantly, Stanford piled up 365 yards rushing and controlled the ball for more than 39 minutes.It went well but I go as the O-line goes and they did a fantastic job today, McCaffrey said. Still, at the end of the day we have a lot of things we have to work on. We have to finish the ball in the end zone. Too many field goals.McCaffrey, whose 51-yard run in the first half helped set up Ukropinas second field goal, scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter. The 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist was also stopped on a 4th-and-1 plunge late in the fourth quarter.Its the 16th 100-yard game for McCaffrey since the start of the 2015 season.Love, a sophomore who filled in when McCaffrey was injured earlier this season, finished with 89 yards on nine carries.If theres nobody between him and the goaal line youre not going to catch him, Shaw said of Love.ddddddddddddStanfords ground game was key on a day Chryst was more effective running the ball than throwing it in his second career start. Chryst completed 10 of 17 passes for 60 yards but rushed for 83 including a 44-yard keeper that set up McCaffreys touchdown.The win puts Stanford in line for a bowl bid. The Cardinal have played in the Rose Bowl three of the past four years but arent in the running for the Pac-12 title this time around despite going into the season as favorites.Ryan Nall rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries for Oregon State. The Beavers have lost four straight and six of seven.McMaryion passed for one touchdown and ran for another but completed only 10 of 24 attempts for 137 yards.Credit Stanfords defense, McMaryion said. Its real simple. They line up and come at you. They did well in man coverage. We have to execute better.I can help the offense more, show my athleticism in the run aspect of the game.THE TAKEAWAYOregon State: Nall had another solid afternoon running the ball but not much else went right for the Beavers. The offense failed to generate a single first down on four drives and committed a pair of turnovers. That was simply too much to overcome for coach Gary Andersens team.Stanford: Its been a rough season for Shaw and his staff but theyre still headed for the postseason and thats a positive. Even without much production from the passing game this was an easier-than-it-looked win for the Cardinal. McCaffrey and Love gave the offense a much-needed boost but it was the defense again that made the difference.UP NEXTOregon State: The Beavers finally catch a break in the schedule with their Nov. 12 trip to UCLA. The Bruins have dropped four straight this season but beat Oregon State 41-0 in Corvalis a year ago.Stanford: The Cardinal travel to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks on Nov. 12 in a meeting between two former Pac-12 champions who have fallen on rough times. Stanford has lost 11 of the previous 14 games against Oregon, including last years 38-36 loss.---AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '