Lineup shift amps Team USA as it advances to another gold medal game

An executive decision made by Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeves last game carried over in this one and yet again resulted in another lopsided win for this summer’s gold medal favorites.

The Americans dumped Australia, 85-64, Friday, Aug. 9 from Bercy Arena in Paris for a 59th straight Olympic win for the country. The two clubs met with gold on the line in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

With the win, the United States will once again play for gold with a chance to bring home a record eighth straight gold medal. Later today, France and Belgium will match up in the other semifinals game ahead of Sunday’s medal showdown.

That final game will be played Sunday at 6:30 a.m. and will serve as the last event of this year’s Olympics. The U.S. have been in the gold medal game every Olympics since 1996 and have not loss since 1992.

Starting in her second game of the summer, guard Jackie Young put her fingerprints all over the game with a perfect start. Connecting on her first five field goals of the game, she worked her way to 14 points in her starting role.

That early effort helped the red, white and blue take a quick lead behind a 10-2 run near the start of the game. Australia would soon climb its way back into the game with a 9-2 run that cut the deficit to just two.

By the second quarter, Team USA had successfully found its rhythm on a 12-0 run that really broke the game open. The lead would grow to as many as 21 points in the first half after it held its opponent without a make through its first seven shot attempts in the second quarter.

The largest lead of the game would be 30. This summer, the country has gone up by 30 or more points three times and have been up by 25 or more in four games.

Two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart led all scorers with 16 points while being flanked by 10 points from fellow two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson. The pair also added 14 rebounds while the latter collected four blocks.

Former WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper added 11 points off the bench. As a collective, this year’s women’s national team racked up 31 assists on its 34 made field goals.