Gabby Williams came away with a silver medal as well.
Team USA is golden once again. On Sunday, the US women’s basketball team erased a 10-point second half deficit to defeat host France and claim its eighth-straight Olympic gold medal (10th overall).
Diana Taurasi becomes the only basketball player ever to win six gold medals while Breanna Stewart now has three and Napheesa Collier has two. Meanwhile, Gabby Williams claimed silver with France — her second Olympic medal after winning bronze in Tokyo.
After leading by 15-9 after one quarter, the Americans let up in the second and allowed France pull even at 25 by halftime. Out of the break, the hosts came out hot and scored 10 straight points to put Team USA down double-digits. The US responded and re-took the lead entering the fourth quarter, though France didn’t go away.
The two sides went back and forth throughout the final period with neither side going up by more than three until A’ja Wilson extended the lead to four with 17.4 remaining. From there, Williams did all she could to keep France alive. She hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one with five seconds left when the US pushed it back to three with a pair of free throws, she drilled another shot at the buzzer — but had her foot on the line. That meant France came up one point short and gave the Americans gold.
Williams put together a gold medal-worthy performance with 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, but just didn’t get enough help from her teammates. As for the US, Collier had a double-double with seven points and 11 rebounds while Stewart chipped in with eight points and three rebounds. Taurasi did not play.
As for the other UConn alums in the Olympics, Canada didn’t fare so well. Kia Nurse and Aaliyah Edwards’ squad flamed out in group play with an 0-3 record, falling to France, Australia and Nigeria. Nurse averaged 7.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 23.6 minutes while Edwards had 3.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 20.8 minutes per game.
13 former Huskies have won a total of 30 Olympic medals: 27 gold, one silver and two bronze.