The U.S. women's basketball team has cruised into the semifinals, hardly being tested en route to four consecutive wins in Paris. But Team USA's next test will be more than just a bid for a 60th straight Olympic win and one more step on the path to an eighth straight gold medal. It will come against Australia, a team that knows a thing or two about going toe-to-toe with the United States — and would love nothing more than to flip the script of one of international basketball's most storied rivalries.

The U.S. has more experience against Australia on the world stage than just about any other country. The team's have met in six of the last seven Olympic Games, missing out only in Rio in 2016. It's a rivalry that has spanned decades and generations, one that charts the growth of women's basketball around the world.

Australia's rise

The Opals hadn't qualified for the Olympics at all until the 1980s, finishing fifth (out of eight teams) in 1984 and fourth in 1988 but failing to make much of a dent. Things would soon change, however, with the arrival of Lauren Jackson. 

Jackson stormed onto the scene as a 17-year-old phenom in 1998, two years after Australia had captured its first-ever women's basketball medal with a bronze in Atlanta. Jackson helped lead the team to two consecutive third-place finishes at the World Championships, building serious momentum ahead of the much anticipated Sydney Olympics in 2000. The whole basketball world was set to come to Australia, an opportunity for the team and country to show just how far it had come. And it would take full advantage of that opportunity, kicking off a rivalry in the process.

Three straight showdowns for gold

With Jackson scoring a tournament high 23.1 points per game, Australia rolled into the final, winning its first five contests by double digits. That set up a showdown with the big, bad U.S., reigning gold medal winners thanks to stars like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley. Team USA eventually pulled away in the second half, but as Jackson notched a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds — and famously got into it with Leslie after pulling out her hair extension — the message had been delivered: Australia was here to stay.

And stay it would; the two countries matched up for gold in each of the next two Olympics, both of which were won by the U.S. as well. They met again in 2012, although this time in the semifinals, Team USA using a late fourth-quarter run to seal a 13-point win. Including a quarterfinal matchup in Tokyo, the teams have met six times in the Olympics, with the U.S. winning each one. But those still around from those earlier battles know what this game and rivalry mean, and a new generation of Opals is here to make a statement of their own.

Carrying it forward

The rivalry hits particularly close to home for Diana Taurasi. Not only has she been a part of four of those U.S. wins over Australia, including the gold medal game in 2008, but she also happens to be married to former Aussie star Penny Taylor.

“It’s going to be a home divided," Taurasi said earlier in the tournament. "She gave that team a world championship. She was MVP of the world. She has such an admiration for being Australian and for that team, and being a part of it for so, so long, we know how hard that game is going to be. It’s never easy.”

And it doesn't figure to be easy on Friday either. Australia comes in riding a ton of momentum, routing Serbia in the quarterfinal, and its roster boasts a slew of WNBA players who will have no fear of the U.S. cavalcade of stars.

“I think the fact that we have so many players that are familiar with them and that have played with and against them helps,” Australia guard Sami Whitcomb said after the Serbia win. “Obviously they’re phenomenal players, but I really like our group as well. I like how we match up. I think all you can do is play your best on the day and give your best on the day, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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