BROOKLYN TO PARIS: Liberty represented across all three women’s basketball medals
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Team USA survived an honest, capital-S Scare for the first time in their 61-game Olympic winning streak, but beat France to capture the gold anyway. The title of Brian Windhorst’s final column from Paris, covering Olympic basketball for ESPN, isn’t surprising.
“U.S. outlasts France to win 8th straight women’s hoops gold.”
And yes, the American women entered the gold medal match, as they do every match, as overwhelming favorites, but they’ve had to “outlast” a few opponents in their 60-game Olympic win streak. An opponent gets hot from three and the U.S. can’t relax until the final buzzer, or an overly physical game never loses its edge and is anything but a laugher.
Still, only two of those 60 wins had come by single-digits. Even if they other 58 weren’t all-out dominations of inferior opponents — though many certainly were — this dynasty stretching from Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie to Britney Griner and A’ja Wilson had pretty much played 240 peaceful quarters in a row. Until Sunday. Whoever titled Windy’s column mighta undersold things a bit.
Team USA won by one point, and even within that point, it was a matter of a couple inches...
UNBELIEVABLE ENDING IN PARIS. Gabby Williams banked it in at the buzzer but her FOOT WAS ON THE THREE-POINT LINE. TEAM USA WINS BY A SINGLE POINT.#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/DJI7YxfVMl— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
Don’t think Gabby Williams’ miraculous shot at the buzzer was indicative of France’s performance on Sunday, though. They didn’t make a ton of crazy shots or even regular threes, but hung with a wobbly U.S. side in every aspect of the game, forcing them into 19 turnovers (15 in the first half) and shooting a gross 33.9% from the field.
New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, named to the Olympic women’s All-Star Five, never got going, shooting just 2-of-8, and though Sabrina Ionescu played ten solid-if-unspectacular minutes as a backup point guard, she went scoreless with three assists.
France even took a ten-point lead early in the third quarter, and it was the Las Vegas Aces’ representatives that righted the ship. Chelsea Gray had a rough night, but Kelsey Plum hit two threes immediately after France pushed that lead to ten, sandwiched around an assist to who other than Wilson?
Wilson’s offense was a little wonky at times, especially given her responsibilities initiating, but still ended up with 21/13 and four blocks on a night when nobody produced an impressive line.
For the host country, the Liberty’s Marine Johannès had another rough shooting game (3-of-13), ending up with nine points in 21 minutes. She wasn’t alone of course; France shot worse than the U.S. from the floor at 31.5%.
Liberty draft stash Marine Farthoux, a 23-year-old guard who was Johannès’ teammate at the club level this past season, scored eight points but hit France’s other crazy shot of the night...
Marine Fauthoux beats the shot clock with a DEEEEP three. NBC and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/FXUDL04qts— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
Despite forty uncomfortable, surprising minutes for the heavy favorite, the final result was anything but, and gave Liberty players (including Farthoux) a couple of golds and silvers from their two weeks in Paris. That’s not even including New York’s Head Athletic Trainer Terri Acosta, who the American women plucked for the same position.
The New York Libs were even represented with the bronze medal winners as well, as Head Coach Sandy Brondello guided Australia to a win in the consolation match earlier on Sunday.
Her Opals trailed by a point heading into the fourth quarter, but wouldn’t suffer the same fate as the French, pulling ahead late for an 85-81 victory that featured a little more offense than the final. Seattle Storm’s standout center Ezi Magbegor, long known as a defensive juggernaut, went off for 30 points to capture the bronze, out-dueling Julie Vanloo of the Washington Mystics, who scored 26 for Belgium.
Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, who sat courtside, posed with his medal winners post-game...
Family photo pic.twitter.com/BFWEg9Bsnz— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 11, 2024
Thus, the Paris Olympics proved to be an unabashed success for the Liberty, despite more fist-clenching moments for Team USA than they’d experienced in the past two decades combined.
New York will resume WNBA regular-season play on Thursday, August 15, in an away matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks returning to Barclays Center five days later.
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