USA Women’s Basketball Seals a Historic Year With Gold Medal

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Prior to the start of the Olympics, it had already been one hell of a year for women’s basketball. Brittney Griner was home safe and back on the court. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese established themselves as stars in the NCAA, breaking records left and right throughout the championship series. And later, when they both declared for the draft, they brought reinvigorated excitement to the WNBA, which was already populated with legends like Diana Taurasi and A’ja Wilson. Now, Team USA has sealed in an already historic year for women’s basketball, overcoming France to bring home its eighth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics on Sunday.

The victory, however, was hard-fought, leaving American fans in a state of anxiety for the entirety of the game. Despite maintaining its now-61-games winning streak, The Athletic called Team USA’s performance in the first half “arguably, the worst half of basketball the U.S. women have played on a world stage.” Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty admitted the team’s showing was “a little bit ugly” while speaking to reporters after the game with France starting the second half with an 8-0 run. But when Team USA had an opportunity to take back the lead with 1:32 to go, Taurasi (a six-time Olympian and the most decorated athlete on the team) reportedly told the Phoenix Mercury’s Kahleah Copper, “Do what you do.” The rest, as it goes, was history. The final score? 67-66, Team USA.

“These games are tough. Everyone always thinks these games end up being easy because we win gold medals,” Taurasi said in postgame interviews. “That was a tough win.”

“I stopped looking for calls,” Wilson, who ended the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds, said. “I leaned on my defense more, and I think that got things going for not only myself but my teammates as well.”

Rounding out the team’s gold-medal-winning roster are Napheesa Collier (forward, Minnesota Lynx), Chelsea Gray (guard, Las Vegas Aces), Griner (center, Phoenix Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (guard, New York Liberty), Jewell Loyd (guard, Seattle Storm), Kelsey Plum (guard, Las Vegas Aces), Alyssa Thomas (forward, Connecticut Sun), and Jackie Young (guard, Las Vegas Aces). Alongside the men’s fifth consecutive gold-medal finish and USWNT’s fifth all-time Olympic gold on Saturday, it looks as though the American Olympic athletes will be more than ready to party during the Games’ Closing Ceremony. Until then!