For a moment, it looked like Team USA women’s team had run out of luck. The quest for eight straight Olympic gold medals appeared shaky due to a combination of sloppy play, a hostile road game environment and a French team ready to avenge the loss of the men’s gold-medal matchup a day prior.
Sunday’s gold-medal game against France was undoubtedly Team USA’s worst game of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Cheryl Reeve’s team flirted with defeat after going down 10 to open the third, but the team inched its way back thanks to a spark from Kahleah Copper and A’ja Wilson’s game-high 21 points.
Even with that, the French nearly forced overtime with a heave by Gabby Williams as regulation time expired.
The low-scoring frenzy came down to Team France down three with 3.8 seconds remaining. Marine Johannes brought the ball up and found teammate Williams near the three-point line.
Williams immediately threw up a Hail Mary shot that went in, but she had taken a step past the three-point line. It was a two-point attempt. And the French team broke down in tears after realizing Williams’ effort wasn’t good enough. Meanwhile, the Americans celebrated knowing they scurried away with a 67-66 win.
“Gabby hit some great shots down the end, tough shots,” Wilson said of Williams, who finished with a team-high 19 points. “We understood what we had in our locker room and leaning on each other and talking to one another and believing that we believed in each other and that’s the greatest thing about it.”
The United States stayed on top of the basketball world, achieving its eighth straight gold medal and 61st consecutive win overall.
“It’s amazing. It truly is a dynasty that we have built here at USAB has been incredible,” Wilson said. “And I am so proud of the resilience that my team showed. We could have fumbled it many times, but we pulled through. To say I am a two-time gold medalist, I am so blessed.”
The game went down to the wire unlike countless Team USA wins. The eventual gold medalists entered the finale as double-digit favorites. And Team USA won the previous five tournament games by an average of 18.6 points.
But a determined French squad were prepared to secure an upset victory.
The Americans fell victim to the French’s pressure early that lasted throughout the game. Napheesa Collier’s layup to end the first half tied the game at 25 as both teams headed to the locker room struggling to score.
Breanna Stewart and Wilson missed layups they make in their sleep. Each guard tabbed by Reeve struggled to protect the ball, which led to 13 first-half turnovers.
Things started to look really bad after France opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run that put the Americans down 10.
A team with the world’s best players looked like a shell of themselves. But they dug deep and rode a second-half wave from Copper, who responded with her own ball pressure that turned into offense for the Americans.
After not playing many impactful minutes in the tournament, Copper might have been the most important American on the court for most of the night. Her squad outscored Team France by a team-high eight points in her 22 minutes off the bench. She finished with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
After failing to make a field goal in the first half, Kelsey Plum contributed 12 of her own points in the second to help undo Team France’s run. The contributions bridged the gap to the inevitable: an A’ja Wilson takeover.
Wilson’s dominance down the stretch was reminiscent of her closeout Game 4 win over the Liberty in the 2023 WNBA Finals. The layups were now falling, she dominated in the midrange, and she eventually ended the night with four blocks and a steal.
After going 2-for-8 in the first half, she finished the game 4-for-4 from the field while totaling 12 free throws (nine makes).
After the win Wilson — and the rest of Team USA — celebrated with LeBron James, Sue Bird, Dawn Staley and other stars in attendance.
“What a tremendous basketball game. The 12,000-plus that were here were just treated to an unbelievable environment and the level of athleticism and competitiveness that these players had,” Reeve said. “What a better way to finish the Paris Olympics than to see that? We feel really fortunate, happy, a lot of words. There’s a lot of trust that has to happen, so I’m just thrilled that we’re able to get a win.”
The victory gives Diana Taurasi, who didn’t play in the closeout game, her sixth consecutive gold medal. The feat makes her the most decorated basketball player in Olympic history, breaking a tie with Bird.
It also compete a Team USA basketball takeover, with the men’s squad also defeating France in the gold-medal game Saturday. Stephen Curry’s heroics in that matchup gave the team its fifth straight gold.
With News Wire Service
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