U.S. women's basketball cruises past Spain for 6th consecutive gold

Diana Taurasi (12) celebrates with teammates during a women’s gold medal game. (AP)

USA Basketball’s senior women’s national team came to Rio de Janeiro as the overwhelming favorite to capture its sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal. They achieved that goal with little trouble. But that’s not to say the achievement was dull — if anything, it was more impressive than expected.

Team USA defeated Spain 101-72 in Saturday’s gold medal game, overcoming a slow start to take full advantage in the second quarter and dominate in yet another blowout win. Spain stayed close enough to trail 21-17 after the opening period but submitted to the United States’ superior depth and talent. Team USA won the second and third quarters by 13 and 15 points, respectively, and the rout was on.

Virtually every American who took the court played well, but Maya Moore (14 points, six assists, five rebounds) and Diana Taurasi (17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep) were the biggest stars, just as they had been most of the tournament. Point guard Lindsay Whalen added 17 points and six assists off the bench as starter Sue Bird returned to the lineup after missing the semifinal vs. France, as well.

As ever, though, simply identifying a few stellar performances does not communicate the quality of the win. This is a roster of universally terrific players who contribute plenty at both ends and know each other well enough to work together. Any would be the star for every other team in the Olympics.

But on Team USA they are simply unstoppable. The Americans won all eight games in the tournament by no fewer than 26 points, scored 100 in all but two, and usually had the result in hand by halftime. This was two weeks of outright dominance leading up to an inevitable result that would be have been dull if not for their incredibly high level of play.

The question is how long this streak of gold medals can last. Starting guards Taurasi and Bird just won their fourth gold medals (as did 37-year-old reserve Tamika Catchings), and head coach Geno Auriemma is not committed past the Olympics. The talent and coaching depth is certainly there to continue, but such transitions often come with unforeseen problems.

Regardless, it doesn’t seem like a sound bet to pick any other national team until results prove otherwise. As in the men’s tournament, teams can have very successful tournaments without defeating the United States. Spain won its first-ever Olympic medal and third major-tournament medal on Saturday and should be extremely proud of it. But they, like so many others, are playing catch-up with the United States. This tournament proved that the gap is substantial.