A’ja Wilson Steers Team USA to Eighth Straight Gold Medal in Nail-Biter vs. France
It wasn’t pretty, but the United States women’s basketball team secured its eighth straight gold medal with a tight 67–66 win over France on Sunday at Bercy Arena to wrap up the Olympic Games.
A back-and-forth battle for Olympic immortality, the game was tied at 55–55 with 3:45 to play. France stuck around in the final minutes, trimming Team USA’s lead to one with five seconds remaining at 65–64, but Kahleah Copper knocked down a pair of free throws and French forward Gabby Williams’s foot was on the line on buzzer-beater that she banked in.
8 Straight! A’ja Wilson Leads Team USA Basketball to Olympic Gold as They Battle Home Team France
he U.S. hadn’t lost an Olympic gold medal final since 1992 going into the matchup, and had won 60-straight Olympic games. France, meanwhile, was seeking their first-ever Olympic gold.
A’ja Wilson — who was named female athlete of the year at the ESPYs in July — led the team in points and rebounds, with 21 and 13, respectively. Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Cooper followed with 12 points each in the low-scoring match.
The game was feisty from the start, with French point guard Romane Bernies racking up three personal fouls before the end of the first quarter.
Paris 2024 basketball: How A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart are powering USA’s golden charge
Stewart went to the University of Connecticut (“UConn,” in popular parlance) for college, a long time superpower in women’s hoops. She won four championships while there. Wilson, who is two years younger than Stewart, went to her home-state University of South Carolina and led them to their first national title. Her play for the Gamecocks helped establish them as a basketball power.
Now both playing in the WNBA, they once again have ended up on the opposite side of the ball. For Stewart’s 2020 championship with the Seattle Storm, she needed to defeat Wilson and the Aces. For both of Wilson’s championships, she’s needed to get past Stewart: in 2022 they faced off in the semifinals in Seattle, and in 2023, Stewart’s Liberty lost to Wilson and the Aces in the final.