Eight straight!
Northern California natives Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, and the U.S. women's basketball team extended its Olympic dynasty on Sunday by defeating France 67-66 to win an eighth-consecutive gold medal. But of those eight podiums the team has reached the top of, the climb in Paris might have been the most challenging of all.
The U.S. had to overcome offensive struggles, a double-digit third-quarter deficit, and a French team clamoring for its first gold medal in the sport in front of its home crowd. And in the end, victory was decided by a matter of inches.
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With the U.S. up by three and seconds remaining, France's Gabby Williams banked in a shot from deep at the buzzer, but her foot was on the 3-point line, allowing the U.S. to escape with a one-point win and yet another gold medal.
It was Kahleah Copper who helped deliver gold, scoring 10 points off the bench in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining that proved to be the difference.
A'ja WIlson led the U.S. with 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Kelsey Plum added 12 points off the bench.
With the win, the U.S. closed the Paris Olympics tied with China atop the gold-medal count leaderboard with 40.
The victory also extended the U.S. women’s basketball team’s winning streak to 61 consecutive games dating back to 1992.
But it did not come easy as Team USA was plagued by offensive miscues throughout much of the game.
The team did not hold a lead at halftime for the first time since the 2012 semifinals after shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and committing 13 turnovers through two quarters of sloppy play. France then opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 35-25 lead as the U.S. was held scoreless for the first three-plus minutes of the quarter.
A pair of 3-pointers by Plum powered an 8-0 run, with a layup by Napheesa Collier later putting Team USA back in front with a 41-40 advantage. The back-and-forth affair continued through the fourth quarter, with France holding a lead that put the country just minutes away from a major upset that would have secured its first gold medal in women’s basketball.
France led 53-51 following a pair of free throws by Marine Fauthoux with 5:04 remaining. The U.S. went up for good when Breanna Stewart hit a free throw and Wilson followed with a jumper that rattled in for a 58-55 lead with 3:13 left.
Copper later extended the U.S. lead to 62-59 on a layup with 1:18 remaining. France’s Marine Fauthoux missed a potential tying three with 21 seconds left before Wilson and Plum hit free throws to push the lead to four. Williams responded with a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to pull France within 65-64. Copper then hit both free throws to put the U.S. back up by three. With no timeouts remaining, France pushed the ball up court to set up Williams’ potential game-tying shot with the hopes of a gold medal hanging in the balance.
Williams finished with 19 points to lead France to its best Olympic finish in women’s basketball with a silver medal.
The closing minutes showed how difficult it is to win one gold medal, let alone eight straight.