US ladies’s basketball denies France first-ever gold in dramatic last – NBC New York
The ultimate occasion of the Paris Video games delivered a history-making efficiency from the U.S. ladies’s basketball crew.
The American ladies battled again from behind to win one other gold medal over France to shut out the 2024 Olympics.
In a sport that noticed every crew main in factors at totally different instances all through, the U.S. victory denied France its first-ever basketball gold and within the course of the U.S. ladies’s crew grew to become the primary in any sport to win eight straight Olympic titles.
In a dramatic last sport, the U.S. ladies’s basketball crew will take dwelling gold after beating France, 67-66.
It was a tense last after France dug deep to come back again from behind within the first quarter and struggle with all the things it had because it tried to safe a medal on its dwelling courtroom. However the American ladies turned up the warmth, with A’ja Wilson taking part in an inspiring final two quarters.
France referred to as a timeout within the last 17 seconds after the U.S. took a slim lead of 63-59, after Wilson made certainly one of two free throws.
Ultimately, it got here right down to free throws after each French and U.S. fouls put ladies on both sides on the road. Kahleah Copper put the U.S. ladies forward within the last seconds of the sport, a lead that France couldn’t come again from.
UNBELIEVABLE ENDING IN PARIS. 😱
Gabby Williams banked it in on the buzzer however 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
A dramatic buzzer-beater shot was solely good for 2 factors on the French facet, bringing them one level shy of tying issues up.
The gold medal victory not solely secures historical past for the ladies’s crew, however ties up the nation’s gold medal depend with China. The U.S. and China end the Video games with 40 every.
Group USA’s A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart shared their enthusiasm for the ladies’s basketball last on the Paris Video games, as they search for their eighth straight Olympic gold medal.
Group USA entered the competitors in Paris having not dropped a single Olympic contest since all the way in which again on the 1992 Barcelona Video games. And head coach Cheryl Reeve’s squad hasn’t proven any actual indicators of a possible letdown in its bid for an eighth consecutive gold.
Powered by two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, Group USA received has received its 5 video games by a mean margin of 18.6 factors. The Individuals’ closest video games have been a 13-point win over Belgium in group play and a 14-point win over Nigeria within the quarterfinals.
France’s solely different look in an Olympic ladies’s last got here on the 2012 London Video games, the place the Individuals rolled to a 36-point win. So, will Group USA cruise to a record-breaking title? Or will the French shut out the 2024 Video games with a momentous upset for gold on dwelling soil?
Are there any WNBA gamers on France?
France’s roster options 4 gamers with WNBA expertise: Valériane Ayayim, Marine Johannès, Iliana Rupert and Gabby Williams. In a comeback extra time win towards Belgium within the semifinals, Williams posted a team-high 18 factors whereas Ayayim had 17 and Rupert added 15.
Williams leads France in factors (14.8) and assists (5.4) per sport, whereas Marieme Badiane is averaging a team-high 5.6 rebounds.
What number of gold medals has USA ladies’s basketball received?
Group USA has captured 9 of the 12 gold medals which were awarded since ladies’s basketball was launched on the 1976 Montreal Video games.
What number of straight video games has USA ladies’s basketball received?
The Individuals enter the gold medal sport driving a 60-game successful streak on the Olympics.
When was USA ladies’s basketball’s final loss?
The final time Group USA dropped an Olympic contest was within the semifinals of the 1992 Olympics, the place the Individuals left with bronze.
What number of Olympic medals has Diana Taurasi received?
Diana Taurasi enters the gold medal sport with an opportunity to develop into the single-most-decorated basketball participant in Olympic historical past. She’s at the moment tied with former teammate Sue Chicken for essentially the most basketball golds with 5 apiece.