The 2012 Summer Olympics have certainly been very good to the U.S. Women. Just yesterday we saw Team USA take gold in women’s soccer and today Team USA remained dominant on the basketball court as the U.S. beat France 86-50 capturing their 5th straight Olympic gold.
Not only was this the fifth straight gold for the United States, it was also the team’s 41st straight victory and an Olympics where the team’s margin of victory was 34 points.
The game itself though started slow for the United States as they had trouble pulling away from a hot shooting French team who actually held a 13-11 lead at the 3:50 mark in the first quarter.
However that’s where the French game plan pretty much peaked while the U.S. Women were just getting warmed up.
As the U.S. second unit came onto the floor they sent the Americans to a 9-2 run to end the first quarter and helped the team pull away in the second half en route to the blowout win.
Center Candace Parker led the way off the bench with 21 points (on 10-for-14 shooting) and 11 rebounds. Team USA’s leading scorer Diana Taurasi struggled with her shooting but finished with nine points and six assists. U.S. captain Sue Bird had 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
“We played better as the game went on,” Parker said. “That is the way things have gone for us in the whole tournament, we played better and better as it went on. We really came together. The whole team came together.”
In the end Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings and Taurasi each won their third gold medal and may not be around when the team goes for six straight medals in four years during the Rio Games. However the team seems to be in good hands with the likes of Parker (who is 26), Maya Moore (23), Tina Charles (23) and Angel McCoughtry (25).
Ref: The Sporting News, Associated Press