Result — USA 67-66 France
The United States won their eighth consecutive Olympic title in women’s basketball with a thrilling one-point victory over France in Paris.
The USA were the overwhelming favorites to win but France, the host nation, led by ten in the third quarter and came within centimeters of taking the game to overtime.
Gabby Williams thought she had leveled the score with a last-gasp three-pointer but she had narrowly stepped onto the line, meaning the USA won by one.
The eight straight golds break a tie with the American men’s basketball program that won seven in a row from 1936-68. The United States women’s team last lost an Olympic match in 1992.
The victory means the United States top the medals table at the Paris Olympics with 40 golds, finishing above China by virtue of their 44 silvers.
Wilson: 'It's all a blur right now'
A'ja Wilson spoke about the second half of the gold medal game: "Man, I wish I could put it into words. I don't think I'll remember that second half for the next couple of weeks. It's all a blur right now.
"We were just resilient in what we needed to do to go bucket for bucket. That is great basketball. That is what people want to see, our defense settled in and we started getting stops."
On the message at halftime: "Keep the main thing the main thing, which is getting that gold, whatever it takes, doing the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet.
"We continued to do that in the second half and then it just started to fall into our hands. They made tough shots, but that's all a part of the game."
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Collier: 'That’s how gold medal games should be'
Napheesa Collier spoke after the match: “That was crazy. It was so hard fought. I feel like that’s how gold medal games should be. You gotta earn it. That’s exactly what we had to go out there and do."
On what the team discussed at halftime: “Taking care of the ball. They’re so aggressive. Their defence was great, so making sure they were not doing us up too much.”
Crucial gold medal for USA
The U.S. women's victory in this game proved to have larger implications, as it meant that Team USA finished the Paris Olympics tied atop the gold-medal standings with China at 40 apiece.
Selfie time
Aces high
Las Vegas Aces teammates Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson.
Diana Taurasi is the first woman in Olympic history to win six gold medals in a team sport.
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The golden bite
A visibly emotional Brittney Griner on the podium, who had tears on her face as The Star-Spangled Banner played.
Stewart, Wilson named to tournament first team
Two members of Team USA were named to the all-tournament first team:
- Breanna Stewart, USA
- A'ja Wilson, USA
- Gabby Williams, France
- Alanna Smith, Australia
- Emma Meesseman, Belgium
Team USA receive their gold medals.
France receive their silver medals as the crowd serenades them with an acapella singing of La Marseillaise. We saw the same thing during the men's medal ceremony last night, as only the national anthem of the gold medalists is played during the ceremony.
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Curtain call for Lauren Jackson
As the women's basketball Olympic medals get handed out to close out the Paris Games, Lauren Jackson is receiving her fifth Olympic medal. At 43 years old, she became the oldest player ever to play in the Olympic women's basketball tournament, winning her first medal (a silver in the 2000 Sydney games) before Australia's starting point guard, Jade Melbourne, was born.
In another piece of fitting history, neither Jackson or Diana Taurasi (now a six-time gold medalist) played on the final day of the tournament.
Medal ceremony underway
Australia are receiving their bronze medals after edging Belgium 85-81 earlier today.
All-time women's basketball medal standings
Today marks the 10th gold medal for U.S. women's basketball.
- United States: 10 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze, 12 total
- Soviet Union: 2 golds, 1 bronze, 3 total
- Unified Team: 1 gold, 1 total
- Australia: 3 silvers, 3 bronze, 6 total
- France: 2 silvers, 1 bronze, 3 total
The Unified Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics that chose to compete together.
A'ja Wilson has been named as the MVP of the Olympic basketball tournament.
One gold medal-winning coach gives props to another.
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Williams was France's MVP
It's still somewhat surprising that Johannès gave up the ball on the final possession, given her ability to knock down shots from all over the floor. But it was fitting that Gabby Williams had the ball on the decisive possession as France's best player throughout the tournament. She certainly put on quite the audition for any WNBA general managers interested in bolstering their rosters for the stretch run of the 2024 season, should Williams choose to return to the league.
Dawn Staley wasn't as nervous as the rest of the United States when France's Gabby Williams let her long-range 2-pointer fly with no time to spare.
"I saw it was a 2 all the way," Staley said.
'Ice Philly'
Dawn Staley says on NBC that she has a new nickname for Kahleah Copper. Forget about "Norf Philly," a reference to where Copper (and Staley are from).
Now call her, "Ice Philly," Staley said, because of how Copper closed out the victory.
