The United States women's basketball team survived a scare from France to win its eighth consecutive gold medal.
A'ja Wilson and Co. did not play their best game, but they found a way to grind out a 67-66 victory over host nation France.
Wilson produced 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Kahleah Copper and Kelsey Plum each scored 12 points off the bench.
Gabby Williams led France with 19 points, and she came up a few feet short of tying the game at the buzzer. Williams' feet were clearly inside the three-point line and that led to Team USA winning in regulation
The gold-medal game victory provided Team USA with its 40th gold medal of the Paris Games, which tied China for the most golds in 2024.
The U.S. women’s basketball team had never been challenged during its 32-year run in the Olympics like the Americans were Sunday by France.
They met the moment and made history, winning an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
It was the closest — and maybe sweetest win — of any during the streak.
“Maybe they won’t say it’s just easy and we walk in and just win gold,” said U.S. center Brittney Griner. who broke down in tears when she was presented her third gold medal. “Maybe they’ll stop saying that, because, like I said, we see everybody’s best shot. And we saw the shot that France gave us.”
A’ja Wilson scored 21 points and the U.S. survived a last-second shot by former UConn standout Gabby Williams that was just inside the 3-point line to hold off France for a 67-66 win and an eighth consecutive gold.
“Eight straight golds is insane honestly,” said Breanna Stewart. “Each one is so different, and so, so special and so, so hard.”
