For much of the women’s 5×5 basketball competition at the 2024 Olympics, Team USA comfortably has cruised at altitude. Although encountering occasional bouts of turbulence, the Americans always remained in control. However, in Friday’s semifinal matchup against Australia, Team USA launched into a higher stratosphere, leaving no doubt in their dominance of the Opals, 85-64. A 60th-straight win secured the Americans a chance at an eighth-straight gold.
On Sunday, Team USA will be meet France in the gold medal match at 9:30 a.m. ET (NBC). If the Americans approach the crowning contest with a similarly elevated intentionality and intensity, it will be shocking if, soon after the final buzzer sounds, gold medals are not being placed around the necks of the 12 members of Team USA as the US national anthem plays and the Stars and Stripes are raised.
But, that doesn’t mean that the hosts will not try to make it hard on the United States. France survived a semifinal slugfest against Belgium on Friday, overcoming poor shooting with will and want to in the overtime win, 81-75. A talented roster, a raucous crowd and maybe a little (or a heavy dose of) home cooking should allow Les Bleues to hang with Team USA. At least for a half or so.
For all Gabby Williams’ smart and savvy two-way play, Marine Johannès’ fearless shotmaking, Janelle Salaün’s defensive intensity and Iliana Rupert’s intriguing versatility, the French do not have the steam required to keep up with the Americans, where two of the best players in women’s basketball history—A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart—are flanked by some of the best passers, shooters, defenders and shot blockers in the sport.
Increasingly, head coach Cheryl Reeve has looked to press Team USA’s athletic advantages, devoting more playing time to now-established starter Jackie Young, one of the strongest, most explosive players on the roster, and emerging super sub Kahleah Copper, surely the fastest player in a US uniform. Brittney Griner, with her incomparable height, and Alyssa Thomas, equipped with muscle and motor, give the Americans further athletic edges that France, possibly the competition’s second-most athletic team, simply cannot compete with for a full 40 minutes.
While this Olympic competition has served as evidence of the increasing and expanding quality of women’s international basketball, the sport’s improving depth has not deterred the United States’ dominance. They have refused to allow the rest of the world catch up. And on Sunday, expect the American Olympic dynasty to be furthered cemented with a 61st-straight win and an eighth-straight gold.
Game information
United States vs. France
When: Sunday, August 11 at 9:30 a.m. ET
Where: Bercy Arena in Paris, France
How to watch: NBC
