The University of South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team, the reigning NCAA champions, recently completed a tour of Tokyo that included three scrimmages against Japan's women's national team and a little time off the court to experience Japanese culture and get a feel for the city where the next Summer Olympics will be held in 2020.
Perhaps as they were just getting back to work during this offseason and were still rusty, the Gamecocks lost all three games against Japan, which has held a series of training camps since the spring in preparation for the July 23-29 FIBA Asia Cup.
Of the three exhibitions contests, the first was played using three 10-minute periods, while the other two had four 10-minute periods. The first two games were closed to the media, and the Akatsuki Five cruised past South Carolina 78-57 at the National Training Center in the third and final game.