The United States women’s basketball team captured its sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal and eighth in 9 Games on Sunday, August 21 with an overwhelming 101-72 victory over Spain in the final.
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The two teams met in the preliminary pool and the Americans won by 40 points. “It’s not about one person, one coach, it’s about how can we make this the best basketball team ever”.
Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen paced the US on the scoreboard, pouring in 17 points apiece, while Maya Moore potted 14.
The second half was just a formality as the Americans steadily stretched their lead against an inferior Spanish squad that had already achieved more than expected by defeating Serbia, China, Senegal and Canada in the round-robin phase before taking out Turkey and Serbia in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Maya Moore added 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
The U.S. women’s basketball team opened its Rio tournament by setting a record with 121 points over Senegal. The U.S. won the game 94-91, and was a 3-pointer away from heading to overtime. By the fourth quarter, the US was up by about 30 points. The Americans were able to drive the ball to the rim much easier without the tall duo waiting for them, and success on the inside extended to the outside, especially for Maya Moore. Her team will lean on her in Tokyo in 2020. Taurasi and Bird have hinted that this will be their final Olympics although both could still return in four years in Tokyo.
The domination continued as the USA women’s basketball team had little difficulty staying ideal in Rio on the way to another gold medal. The trio joined Lisa Leslie and Teresa Edwards as the only Olympians to win four gold medals.
In a long series of wins, Gwen Jorgensen’s Olympic gold will stand out.
Moore finished with 14 points in the game.
The only time they have been challenged when winning was against Serbia unsurprisingly when they won by six. But a fifth gold is not in the cards as the 2016 Games will be the last Olympic experience for Bird, Catchings and Taurasi.
This game marked the end of Tamika Catchings’ Olympic career.
This was the first Olympic gold medal for Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury teammate, Brittney Griner.
It’s been quite a run for this group, which features 12 players with a combined 29 Olympic gold medals – the most ever for any team.
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“The Dream Team, they just were not concerned about the competition”, said Krzyzewski, an assistant on that team.
