The United States and Australia are set to renew one of basketball's most famous rivalries

The United States has more experience than any other country facing Australia on the international stage. The two teams have met in six of the last seven Olympics, missing out only in Rio in 2016. It’s a rivalry that has spanned decades and generations, and is a testament to the growth of women’s basketball around the world.

The rise of Australia

The Opals did not qualify for the Olympics until the 1980s, finishing fifth (out of eight teams) in 1984 and fourth in 1988, but failing to secure a place. Things were soon to change, however, with the arrival of Lauren Jackson.

Jackson burst onto the international scene as a 17-year-old in 1998, two years after Australia won its first women's basketball medal, a bronze in Atlanta. Jackson helped the team to back-to-back third-place finishes at the World Championships, building serious momentum ahead of the highly anticipated Sydney Olympics in 2000. The entire basketball world was ready to come to Australia, a chance for the team and the country to show how far they had come. And they would take full advantage of the opportunity, sparking a rivalry in the process.

Three consecutive confrontations for gold

With Jackson scoring a tournament-best 23.1 points per game, Australia reached the final, winning their first five games by double digits. That set up a showdown with the big bad USA, the reigning gold medallists thanks to stars like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley. The American team eventually got the better of them in the second half, but when Jackson had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds and got into a fight with Leslie after she pulled out her hair extension, the message was clear: Australia was here to stay.

And it wouldn’t stop there: the two countries would go on to battle for gold in the next two Olympics, both of which the United States also won. They met again in 2012, but this time in the semifinals, with Team USA using a late fourth-quarter run to seal a 13-point victory. Including a quarterfinal matchup in Tokyo, the teams have met six times in the Olympics, with the United States winning each time. But those still around from those previous battles know what this game and this rivalry means, and a new generation of Opals are here to make their own statement.

To move forward

This rivalry particularly affects Diana Taurasi. Not only was she a part of four of the United States' victories over Australia, including the gold medal final in 2008, but she is also married to former Australian star Penny Taylor.

“It's going to be a divided home team,” Taurasi said earlier in the tournament. “She's given this team a world championship. She's been voted world MVP. She has such admiration for being Australian and for this team, and being a part of it for so long, that we know how tough this game is going to be. It's never easy.”

And this Friday doesn't look like an easy one either. Australia is coming in on an impressive run, having crushed Serbia in the quarterfinals, and its roster features plenty of WNBA players who won't be afraid of the cavalcade of American stars.

“I think it helps that we have so many players who know them and have played with and against them,” Australia fullback Sami Whitcomb said after the win over Serbia. “They're obviously phenomenal players, but I also really like our group. I like the way we stack up against each other. I think all we can do is play our best on the day and give it our best shot, and that's what we're going to do.”

And of course, if they need a reminder, they can always look down the bench: At 43, Jackson is still here, and while age and health issues have limited her playing time, she is a living testament to how far her country has come on the court and what it takes to make basketball history.

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