The United States’ National Women’s Basketball Team’s successful gold medal defense at the Rio 2016 Olympics, resulting in its sixth consecutive gold medal victory, has also resulted in the team earning another honor—sharing USA Basketball’s Team of the Year honors.
The team, coached by Geno Auriemma, was named as the co-recipient of the organization’s Team of the Year Award along with the men’s team.
It is the third straight Summer Olympics year that the women’s and men’s teams have shared the Team of the Year award as 2008, 2012, and 2016 all resulted in both teams leaving the Games with gold around their necks.
The women’s team also were named the Team of the Year by USA Basketball after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and the 2004 Olympics in Athens—which were a notoriously underachieving Games on the men’s end of the ledger.
Obviously, we were the most talented team I have ever been around, but everyone was so willing to play their role and to not get caught up in any of the things that can get in the way when lots of good players are on the same team.
—Geno Auriemma, USA Women’s Basketball head coach
Everyone had one goal and that was to make each other better every day.
The team set a record for points scored when they dropped 121 vs. Senegal to begin the tournament and went 26-for-26 in free throws made against Serbia. The team scored a total of 817 points over the course of the Olympics.
Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio….Tokyo (site of the 2020 Olympics)? Those Games will be here before we know it! That six straight may be a seventh consecutive in four years…
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
