No team has been as dominant in the Olympics than the U.S. women’s national basketball team, and they are now three games away from continuing their success with another gold medal.
The American women have been playing like the best team in the world so far in the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning its three group stage games by 19.3 points. Team USA is now in the knockout round, and it will needs to maintain its perfect record if it wants to win a remarkable eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Here’s what to know about the U.S. women’s national basketball squad ahead of its quarterfinal matchup:
USA women’s basketball national team roster
The U.S. women’s 5×5 national team ‘features some of the best basketball talent our country has to offer,’ head coach Cheryl Reeve said. The team not only has talent, but it boasts major international experience. The players that make up the 2024 U.S. women’s Olympic team have a combined 15 Olympic gold medals between them.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
*Each asterisk marks the number of Olympic appearances, including 2024 Paris
**A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
*Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
***Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
***Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
**Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces
******Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
**Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces (Young was on the 2020 USA 3×3 Women’s National Team)
**Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
*Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury
**Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces (Plum was on the 2020 USA 3×3 Women’s National Team)
**Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
*Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
USA women’s basketball schedule for Paris Olympics
USA women’s basketball went 3-0 in Group C and advanced to the knockout round. Here’s the dates for the U.S. games:
Monday, July 29: USA 102, Japan 76
Thursday, Aug. 1: USA 87, Belgium 74
Sunday, Aug. 4: USA 87, Germany 68
Wednesday, Aug. 7: USA vs. Nigeria, 3:30 p.m. ET in quarterfinals
The semifinals will be on Friday, Aug. 9 (11:30 a.m. or 3 p.m. ET) and the gold medal game is Sunday, Aug. 11 (9:30 a.m. ET).
Who is head coach of USA women’s basketball?
Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, is the head coach of the 2024 USA women’s national team. Kara Lawson (Duke), Joni Taylor (Texas A&M) and Mike Thibault (Washington Mystics) are Reeve’s assistant coaches. Reeve and her staff previously led the USA women to a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Curt Miller (Los Angeles Sparks) and Tanisha Wright (Atlanta Dream) will assist the team as scouts.
How many gold medals does USA women’s basketball have?
USA women’s basketball has medaled in every Olympics it has participated, winning a total of 11 Olympic medals, including nine gold, one sliver and one bronze. Here’s how the U.S. women have performed since 1976, when women’s basketball debuted at the Montreal Olympics:
2020, Tokyo: Gold (90–75 win over Japan)
2016, Rio: Gold (101–72 win over Spain)
2012, London: Gold (86-50 win over France)
2008, Athens: Gold (92–65 win Australia)
2004, Athens: Gold (74–63 over Australia)
2000, Sydney: Gold (76–54 over Australia)
1996, Atlanta: Gold (111–87 win over Brazil)
1992, Barcelona: Bronze (88–74 win over Cuba in bronze medal game)
1988, Seoul: Gold (77–70 win over Yugoslavia)
1984, Los Angeles: Gold (85–55 win over South Korea)
1980, Moscow: USA boycotted Olympics due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1976, Canada: Silver (83–67 loss to Czechoslovakia)
How many Olympic gold medals does Diana Taurasi have?
Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) are the only two American women’s basketball players to win five Olympic gold medals. Taurasi can become the first to earn six gold medals in Paris.
Here’s the Olympic medal count for every player on the U.S. women’s roster for Paris:
Diana Taurasi: 5 golds (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Breanna Stewart: 2 golds (2016, 2020)
Brittney Griner: 2 golds (2016, 2020)
A’ja Wilson: 1 gold (2020)
Chelsea Gray: 1 gold (2020)
Jewell Loyd: 1 gold (2020)
Napheesa Collier: 1 gold (2020)
Jackie Young: 1 gold (2020; USA Women’s 3×3)
Kelsey Plum: 1 gold (2020; USA Women’s 3×3)
Alyssa Thomas: 0
Kahleah Copper: 0
Sabrina Ionescu: 0
