U.S. women’s basketball wins fifth straight gold

LONDON -- With smiles on their faces and gold medals hanging from their necks, Diana Taurasi gathered Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird together late Saturday night at North Greenwich Arena.

The three shook hands.

Who knows what time and upcoming talent will do to the pact the players made to return for a fourth Olympics at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games? But this much is as clear and convincing as the U.S. women’s basketball team’s 86-50 victory over France: What a run it is.

“I usually don’t get very emotional when we win,” Taurasi said. “But for some reason when I was walking through the arena afterward it hit me: ‘You know this might be my last. It also might not be.’ But after three of them, they’re really hard, even if you win by 30.

“The whole process is really difficult to try to get 12 really good players to buy into one thing. It takes a lot of effort and sacrifice. But in the end, we succeeded.”

Indeed, the most dominant program at these Games posted its 41st straight Olympic triumph and collected an unprecedented fifth straight gold medal. Fittingly, all 12 players scored, a testament to the depth that defined this 8-0 run with an average margin of victory of 34.3 points.

The 36-point victory marked the largest margin for a gold-medal game in Olympic history.

Candace Parker’s 21 points and 11 rebounds led the balanced offensive effort, and swarming defense forced France into 28% shooting with 21 turnovers. Captain Celine Dumerc, who helped lead France to its first-ever basketball medal, managed just two-for-10 shooting and often couldn’t even initiate offense due to harassing defense from Taurasi and company.

Parker was dominant in the second quarter, scoring 11 points, including a run of six straight that featured a coast-to-coast drive and a nifty finger roll to close.

“Candace was huge,” Bird said.

Parker averaged 10.5 points, one of four players to score in double figures in these Olympics. Taurasi’s 12.4 points-per-game average led.

And when it ended, emotion washed over all.

“It does feel different,” Taurasi said. “As you get older, maybe you reflect a little more on everything you had to overcome to get you here. I looked back at all the things I’ve been through — good, bad, personal, on the court. And it was a good feeling.”

With 11 points, Bird also reached double figures. She will be 35 when the Rio Games arrive.

“For me, Dee [Taurasi] and Catch [Catchings], it’s pretty special to experience this three different times,” she said. “They’re great players. They’re great people. It’s been a good ride.

“We had a handshake. I don’t know what handshakes mean. Ask me in three years. It’ll depend on how I feel. There’s so much talent in the U.S. There might be some little point guard who comes up and kicks my butt.”

Taurasi will be 34 for the 2016 Games. Catchings, the oldest player on this team, will be 37.

“Each experience has been so different,” Catchings said. “First, I had role models I had with Dawn [Staley],Lisa [Leslie] and Sheryl [Swoopes], and then the second time I got a little more responsibility, and then this year stepping into a leadership role and trying to help the younger players. It just builds off our legacy and the players and teams that came before us and are still to come.”

Taurasi, as is her nature, wouldn’t let go. Granted, the program remains in capable hands. This year’s team got huge contributions from the 26-year-old Parker, the 23-year-old Maya Moore and the 23-year-old Tina Charles.

Long after the handshake, Taurasi’s words remained in Catchings’ ear.

“I said this is my last one, but Diana is yelling, ‘One more! One more!’” Catchings said, laughing. “This is likely to be my last one. And that makes it special.”

As Catchings spoke, the gold medal glistened as noticeably as the tears forming in her eyes.

kcjohnson@tribune.com

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