The U.S. women’s basketball team, led by Sabrina Ionescu and Chelsea Grey, both from Northern California, continued their Olympic dynasty on Sunday when they defeated France 67-66 to capture an eighth consecutive gold medal. However, the ascent in Paris may have been the most difficult of the eight podiums the squad has reached the top of.In front of its home fans, the United States had to overcome offensive woes, a double-digit third-quarter disadvantage, and a French team desperate to win the sport’s inaugural gold medal. And in the end, few inches separated the winners.France’s Gabby Williams banked in a long jumper at the buzzer with three seconds remaining, but her foot was on the 3-point line, allowing the U.S. to escape with a one-point victory and yet another gold medal.With 10 points from the bench in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with five seconds left that proved to be the difference, Kahleah Copper was instrumental in helping to deliver gold.With 21 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, A’ja Wilson led the US. Off the bench, Kelsey Plum scored 12 more points.With the victory, the United States concluded the Paris Olympics in a tie with China for the most gold medals (40).With this win, the American women’s basketball team’s winning run, which dates back to 1992, now stands at 61 games.However, it was not without difficulty, as Team USA struggled with offensive errors for the most of the match.After two quarters of careless play that saw the club shoot only 33.3 percent from the floor and commit 13 turnovers, the team did not lead at the break for the first time since the 2012 semifinals. After keeping the United States scoreless for the opening three and a half minutes of the third quarter, France went on a 10-0 run to establish a 35-25 lead.Plum scored twice from beyond the arc to ignite an 8-0 run, and Napheesa Collier’s layup later put Team USA ahead 41–40. The fourth quarter saw more back-and-forth play, with France maintaining a lead that put the nation only minutes away from pulling off a significant upset that would have won its first gold medal in women’s basketball.Copper then added a layup with 1:18 left to increase the American lead to 62-59. With twenty-one seconds remaining, Marine Fauthoux of France missed a chance to tie the game, but Wilson and Plum made free throws to extend the lead to four points. With five seconds left, Williams answered with a three-pointer to bring France within 65-64. The U.S. then led by three again after Copper made both of his free throws. The prospect of a gold medal hanging in the balance, France moved the ball up court with no timeouts left to set up Williams’ possible game-tying shot.With a silver medal, Williams finished with 19 points to lead France to its best-ever Olympic result in women’s basketball.The last few minutes demonstrated how challenging it is to win even one gold medal, much less eight in a row.
New update:Team USA women’s basketball wins Olympic gold with win over France.
