RIO DE JANEIRO – Was the result ever in doubt? When USA captain Sue Bird came out of the tunnel and nailed the first layup to start the pre-game warmup the only question was the final score. The USA Senior National Women’s team captured their 6th consecutive Olympic gold medal and add to a 49–game winning streak dispatching Spain in the gold medal game 101-72 at the Carioca Arena 1 at the Rio Olympic Park.
“Can you believe on Tuesday we would’ve been together about a month?” smiled USA Women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma in the post-game mix zone. “People think we throw them together. And people wonder sometimes how you put this team together. And you go – well, you’ve got too many old guys. When you play international you want old guys, you want guys with experience, you want guys who’ve been there, have done that, that are not going to get rattled, not going to get affected by the officiating. Not going to be affected by anything. They’re just going to grind it out until you get separation.”
It was the “old guys” duo of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi who started the gold medal game alongside Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Brittney Griner. Bird, who was playing her fourth Olympic gold game with Taurasi and Tamika Catchings, was slightly injured in the quarterfinal Japan game and sat out the semifinals against France, took her normal position running Team USA.
Both teams came out sloppy, missing shots, with the USA not scoring until the 8:08 mark on a Maya Moore (14 points) three. Spain pushed the ball with drives to keep pace with the USA to trail at first quarter 21-17. Team USA turned up the heat in the second with Bird hitting a three, Taurasi getting two more as did Moore. When Bird checked out for Lindsay Whalen (team high 17 points) with 5:09 left in the quarter, the USA was up 35-24 and on route to the medal ceremony. All that was left was the 100 mark which Stewart nailed with a three with 0:35 left to play in the game.
USA Women’s Olympic basketball team captures the gold medal after beating Spain at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio
“They (Team USA) are getting better because they play more as a team,” explained 5-11 veteran Spanish point guard Laia Palau. “Every year. They know each other, they are always more of less the same base. That makes them impossible to find weak points on them. The USA will keep this kind of work. I think it will be very difficult to beat them becaue are a great team with great players. For us, you can commit a mistake, never against the USA.”
With Team USA’s sixth consecutive gold medal (8th overall) Bird, Taurasi and Catching tie Theresa Edwards with four gold medals (Edwards also has a bronze). The 2012 vets from London: Moore, Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Angel McCoughtry, Sylvia Fowles and Tina Charles get their second gold. Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne and Beanna Stewart claimed their first Olympic gold medals.
