How U.S. women’s basketball won eighth straight Olympic gold by a sliver

The stage was set for an epic upset: France led by as many as 10 points in the second half over the heavily favored United States women’s basketball team, with the Olympic gold medal on the line.

The home-country crowd was going wild, the play was brutally physical, the stakes were sky-high and history was on the line. The Americans rallied to take the lead, but the game’s outcome was going to come down to the final buzzer.

And by a single point, the Americans battled through one of the toughest games they have faced in the Olympics. They won their eighth consecutive gold medal — dating back to the 1996 Games — winning 67-66. It’s the most consecutive Olympic titles for any nation in basketball, women’s or men’s.

Just inches prevented overtime: France’s Gabby Williams, a former UConn Huskies star, banked in a shot from just inside the arc as time expired. The Americans have rarely had to sweat out an outcome in the Olympics, especially during their winning streak that reached 61 games Sunday. In that stretch, they previously had played just two games decided by single digits: a four-point win over Russia in the 2004 semifinals, and a nine-point victory over Nigeria in 2020 group play.

But a day after watching their men’s team battle Team USA to the end, the French women got even closer to winning what would have been a triumph for the ages. Relying on defense and 19 U.S. turnovers — some forced, some sloppy mistakes — and some uncharacteristic cold shooting from the Americans, the French held Team USA to its lowest point total in an Olympic final.

It was also the first time the Americans have ever played a game decided by one point in the Olympics. In the end, that one point was golden again for Team USA. Here is how the U.S. women edged France.

How did France give Team USA such a hard time?

Philippou: We knew both teams had strong defensive identities, but the game turned into a total slugfest, and it played into France’s favor. Even though Les Bleus couldn’t get their offense going, their defensive pressure made Team USA the most uncomfortable it had been all Olympics: The U.S.’s 25 first-half points (and 10 second-quarter points) were both lows in the competition, and its 13 turnovers at halftime nearly matched its game average in Paris (14.8).

The Americans’ offensive execution and flow were nonexistent in stretches against France’s pressure, and oftentimes they weren’t sharp enough or were flat-out sloppy, attempting poor passes or failing to secure defensive rebounds. Even when Team USA managed to get off shots, it missed ones it normally makes, particularly around the rim — perhaps an indicator that the players were tight.

When France started to hit its shots early in the third quarter to go up by 10, it felt like the U.S. might be in real trouble. The Americans trailed for 7:57 in the second half after never trailing in the second half the entire tournament.

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Recapping Team USA’s victory over France

Check out the stats behind Team USA’s victory over France to secure gold in women’s basketball at the Paris Games.

How did Team USA keep its streak intact?

Philippou: Coach Cheryl Reeve arguably could have switched up the combinations earlier, but Team USA started to find some momentum when it inserted Kahleah Copper, Kelsey Plum and (for the first time all day) Sabrina Ionescu into the game once France threatened to race ahead for good early in the third quarter. That trio used its quickness to get to the rim and generally make the offense more dynamic. And in a critical stretch, Plum hit the only pair of 3-pointers the U.S. women hit all game.

Reeve stuck with those second-half rotations that seemed to jump-start the offense a bit more. In fact, Chelsea Gray subbed out for good at the 8:08 mark of the third, Brittney Griner played for 4:42 (all in the first half), while Diana Taurasi and Jewell Loyd never saw the floor. All four are experienced Olympians, and it was the first time Taurasi didn’t appear in a game in her Olympic career.

Voepel: One of the hardest things about being so dominant is that a team doesn’t have to make a lot of strategic substitutions that are really a critical factor in the outcome. But that was the case Sunday. Reeve had to rely on her many years of coaching close games in the WNBA, where every move she makes could be the difference.

The Americans have the deepest pool of talent in the world, and Reeve ultimately showed she had faith in that depth. That and A’ja Wilson being the best player in women’s hoops right now is what won this game.

How does Wilson’s run in this Olympics add to her legacy?

Voepel: Just as she has been the WNBA MVP front-runner all season, Wilson was the best player in the Olympic women’s tournament. She led the Americans in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

Her 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks Sunday were part of the story, but that doesn’t provide all the context. It was the energy she brought, especially on defense, and when she did it. After a lackluster first half by Team USA and a slow start to the second half, the U.S. streak was in jeopardy. But that’s when Wilson found another level, as we’ve seen her do in college at South Carolina and in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces.

She just turned 28 on Thursday, and is in her prime with still so much ahead. But this game will go down as one of the most important she has ever played.

Philippou: Wilson couldn’t have loved how she or the team started the game. She was 2-for-9 from the field in the first 20 minutes, uncharacteristically missing shots around the rim as she dealt with incredibly physical defense from France.

But her resilience allowed her to make winning plays in the second half, part of what makes her the best player in the world right now. She finished with 15 second-half points, found ways to get to the free throw line and, even when she wasn’t shooting great, she made an impact with her energy in fighting for rebounds and making massive defensive plays. Now she earns another well-deserved MVP award, this one on the largest stage yet.

Who were the other heroes of the gold medal match?

Voepel: Copper was critical in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her 12 points and contributing to the defense that held France to one 3-pointer in the final period. Copper, the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP while with the Chicago Sky, also was clutch at the line, hitting two free throws with five seconds left for the United States’ final points. In her first Olympics, Copper made her presence felt in the biggest game.

Plum was similarly important on both ends, also finishing with 12 points, including two late free throws, and strong on-the-ball defense. In a game in which Aces teammates Jackie Young (2 points on 1-of-7 shooting, fouled out) and Gray (0 points, 4 assists in 13 minutes) were not as effective, Plum had their backs, as we’ve so often seen them all do for Las Vegas.

And while she wasn’t a big scorer in this Olympic tournament — she had seven points Sunday — the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier was big on the boards (11 rebounds) and a dependable starter for Team USA.

Why was this the closest game in Olympic history for the U.S. women?

Voepel: The nearly three decades of the WNBA has improved women’s basketball globally, as almost all of the world’s best players have spent time in the league. We’ve seen more countries put greater investment in their women’s athletes in several sports, basketball included. As a result, the United States has to face bigger challenges to stay ahead of the pack.

That’s in general; specifically in Sunday’s game, there was also the circumstances: The Americans were playing an energized French team on its home soil, and they had to dig deep for the first time in this Olympic tournament.

It’s also noteworthy that this U.S. team got a taste of losing when it fell to the WNBA All-Stars in the league’s All-Star Game on July 20. Sure, that was an exhibition, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt like something was on the line, and it helped remind Team USA that it wasn’t infallible. The same thing happened in 2021 before the Tokyo Games. So you could say the depth of this U.S. team extends all the way to the players who didn’t make the squad for Paris, because they helped with the preparation.

UNBELIEVABLE ENDING IN PARIS. 😱

Gabby Williams banked it in at the buzzer but her FOOT WAS ON THE THREE-POINT LINE. TEAM USA WINS BY A SINGLE POINT.#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/DJI7YxfVMl

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024

What will the legacy of this 2024 Olympic team be?

Voepel: That the U.S. women found a way to win despite having far from their best performance in a “road” game against Olympic host France with everything on the line.

Taurasi, 42, is the only U.S. player who even has a memory of seeing the Americans not win gold at the Olympics. She was 10 when that last happened, at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when Team USA took bronze five years before the WNBA launched. Gold is all that the rest of the Americans know, and anything less would have been devastating.

That’s a hard standard to maintain over the course of decades, no matter how big your talent pool. All it takes is one subpar game against the wrong opponent at the wrong time to derail that. It almost happened Sunday. But it didn’t.

Philippou: This was the first Olympics where a changing of the guard was readily apparent. We knew there would be no Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles or Tina Charles, and Taurasi ended up having a limited role. This was always going to be Wilson’s and Stewart’s team, but it was also the breakout Olympics for 26-year-old Jackie Young. A host of twentysomethings — Ionescu, Collier, Copper and Plum, among others — had brilliant flashes, which, combined with the rest of the young talent coming up through the pipeline, should make the program excited for the future.