It was a result that the bookmakers and fans saw coming a mile off but all credit to the USA basketball team as they won yet another Olympic Gold Medal. While some people will say that this triumph was in the bag before they reached Brazil, this would have place a high level of pressure on to the team. They dealt with this pressure tremendously well throughout the tournament and the outcome of the final was never in doubt.
The score of the 2016 Rio Games Women’s Basketball final was:
- United States 101 v Spain 72
In the end, it was a 29 point triumph over the Americans while Spain will have to be content with the Silver Medal.
The USA took the opening quarter by a score of 21-17, the second quarter by a score of 28-15 (leading to a half-time score of 49-32) and then the third quarter by a score of 32-17. In the final quarter, Spain stemmed the flow slightly with a score of 20-23 but this was merely seeing the game out.
Lindsay Whalen and Diana Taurasi both grabbed 17 points each in the win while Alba Torrens delivered 18 points in the loss for the European side. This was the 8th title for the US Women’s side at the Olympic Games.
Serbia take the Bronze Medal
Earlier on Saturday the 20th of August, Serbia edged out France to take the Bronze Medal.
The score of the 2016 Rio Games Women’s Basketball Bronze Medal match was:
- France 62 v Serbia 70
This was a far tighter game with the third quarter being the decisive game in the match. Serbia had a strong start, taking the opening quarter by a score of 10-18 but France rallied, taking the second quarter at 17-9. This tied the score at half-time at 27-27 but it was Serbia that came out of the blocks in the most constructive manner in the second half.
The third quarter finished 15-28 and although France rallied to take the final quarter 21-15, the Bronze Medal was on its way to Serbia.
Jelena Milovanović provided 18 points for the winners while France received 18 points from Endéné Miyem.
Records of the tournament
The player with the points record for the tournament was Liz Cambage of Australia who grabbed an average of 23.5 points per game. Clarissa dos Santos of the hosts Brazil provided an average of 12.5 rebounds per game and Asami Yoshida of Japan offered up an average of 9.3 assists per game.
Danielle Page of Serbia provided an average of 2.3 blocks per game while Olivia Époupa delivered an average of 3.3 steals per game.
The highest points tally for a single game was 37, scored by Liz Camabage in a game between Australia and Japan on the 11th of August. The most rebounds in a single game was 16, achieved by Clarissa dos Santos for Brazil versus Japan on the 8th of August. The United States finished with an 8-0 record and a points difference of +198 while runners-up Spain finished with a 6-2 record and a points difference of +41. The only other team in the tournament to finish with a positive points difference was Australia, who were ranked 5th and had a +53 points difference.
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