The United States entered the gold medal match of the 2016 Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday at the Carioca Arena with the entire world knowing it was nothing but mere formality.
After 40 minutes of hoops, the Americans, as expected, defeated Spain in convincing fashion, 101-72 for their 49th consecutive women's basketball win in the Olympic stage as the squad walked away with a sixth straight gold medal finish in what has been another undefeated and unchallenged run.
Spain did give USA all that it could handle in the first quarter, with Alba Torrens pouring in 10 points while the team switching well in the perimeter.
Spain even took a 17-14 lead briefly, but USA ended the first quarter with seven straight points. Then came an inevitable run, with the USA scoring 10 unanswered points in the second period which included two triples from Diana Taurasi.
The stretch eventually became a 16-3 run which turned a slim 27-24 lead into a commanding 43-27 advantage. Spain was limited to only two field goal makes in the last five minutes of the first half.
A 32-17 third quarter doubled USA's lead, as the team cruised towards the end.
"Obviously, it was an incredible tournament for us. From the very first game that we played to today, with very few exceptions I thought we played basketball at a really high level," head coach Geno Auriemma said via USA Basketball.
"I can’t say enough about our players. How quickly they’ve come together, how much they’ve been able to accomplish in less than a month that we’ve been together. It wasn’t as easy as sometimes it looked. These last two games especially with France and today against Spain. These are very good teams that we’re playing, and you could see that it wasn’t just a cake walk, that it was a struggle. Then finally, because of our depth and because of the experience on our team, we were able to separate ourselves."
Lindsay Whalen added 17 points, five rebounds, and six assists while Maya Moore chipped in 14 points and six assists.
Photos: 2016 Rio Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Final Day
Photos: 2016 Rio Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Medal Ceremony
A mix of emotions highlighted the end of the match. Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Tamika Catchings, which might have just played their final Olympic game together, hugged each other as they joined legends Lisa Leslie and Teresa Edwards as the only Olympians -- male or female -- to win four gold medals in basketball.
Even Auriemma couldn't hide his emotions, knowing his veteran trio will be exiting the program.
"It’s hard. It’s hard to quantify it with words because there are some things they do that you can’t even describe. Some of it is the commitment that they’ve had … their willingness to do it whenever they’re asked to do it. Their passion for the game, their passion for USA Basketball, the way they were content as Sue was saying in Athens to just wait their turn," Auriemma shared to USA Basketball.
"And even in some cases when they have been good enough to play … a lot, they knew they had to pay their dues somewhat. But they set an example that today, I think a lot of it is missing … there is a lot of entitlement out there in sports today and you’ve got three hall of fame players, Sue, Diana and Tamika Catchings, that don’t think they’re really entitled to anything and they feel like they have to work really hard every day and earn it. No matter what they’ve done, they feel they have to earn it every day. That’s how they show up. That’s how they practice. That’s how they prepare. In addition to all the wins and all the gold medals, I think the attitude and the example that they set is probably one that the next group is going to benefit from more than anything else."
USA had 29 assists, 13 more than Spain, and a 51-28 disparity in rebounding. Auriemma's side also shot 59 percent overall and 60 percent from three-point area in another display of greatness.
Torrens had 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists to pace Spain, which will be happy to walk away with a silver medal, its first podium finish in the games in four appearances. Marta Xargay added 12 points while Astou Ndour and Silvia Dominguez contributed 11 points apiece.
Earlier, Serbia defeated France, 70-63 to cap a respectable debut with a bronze medal finish.
All photos from FIBA.com
All quotes from the USA Basketball website
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