Team USA’s depth and defense sent them cruising into the Olympic quarterfinals.

And the U.S. women are looking very much the favorite for an unprecedented eighth straight gold. 

On Sunday, Team USA cruised to an 87-68 victory over Germany to finish atop Group C at a perfect 3-0. 

It marked their history-making 58th consecutive Olympic victory, and came thanks to their bench, and their long-armed ball-hawking defense. 

“You have to stay ready, be ready whenever your number is called,” Jackie Young said. “Our role here is to get defensive stops and change the game on the defensive end. We know we can all score the ball, so making an impact on the defensive end is important.” 

Young was great on both ends.

The Notre Dame product led the way with a game-high 19 points and four rebounds, shooting 5-of-8 from deep.

After claiming Tokyo gold playing 3-on-3, this time she’s in the midst of a huge breakout on the dominant 5-on-5 team. 

“The biggest thing for us is coming out locked in on the defensive end and getting stops,” Young said. “We know that when we get stops, we are able to get going in transition and play at the pace we want to play at.” 

A’ja Wilson had 14 points and four steals, while Liberty star Breanna Stewart added 13 points and three boards. 

Alyssa Thomas came off the bench with six points, five assists and three boards.

Team USA’s reserves outscored Germany’s 52-13, the key to victory. 

“It’s exciting,” Alyssa Thomas said in an on-court TV interview afterward. “I grew up watching the Olympics. Now I’m here with the best athletes in the world, and just trying to soak it in as much as I can.” 

The victory kept Team USA unbeaten since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Next up is Wednesday’s quarterfinals. 

Team USA is looking for the top seed and has a 19-point cushion on host France, with the hosts yet to wrap up pool play. 

After Satou Sabally had poured in 33 points in Germany’s win over Japan, Team USA held her to 15 points on Sunday, on 6-of-18 shooting. 

The U.S. had a slow start, with German Leonie Fiebich — who plays alongside Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu on the New York Liberty — having a steal and layup to leave Team USA in a 15-6 hole. 

It was still 19-14 when Team USA put together a 23-5 run that spanned the first and second quarters to seize a lead they never surrendered. 

Team USA held Germany to just 10 points in the second quarter, their best defensive period in group play.

They forced 15 first-half turnovers and converted them into 14 points. 

Fiebich left the game injured. She dove for a loose ball and seemed to take an inadvertent Thomas knee to the shoulder, leaving with 2:23 left in the third quarter. 

Team USA closed the period with 10 unanswered points, leading 69-46.

Young beat the buzzer to cap the run and the rest was garbage time.