by 
A’ja Wilson Says ‘All Eyes Are On Us’ During Olympics, WNBA Season
With the WNBA’s popularity growing, the Americans are looking for an eighth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics this summer.
PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team will face Australia in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart lead the Americans in their quest for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, which would also be Diana Taurasi’s record sixth gold medal for a basketball player.
USA TODAY Sports brings you live updates, highlights and analysis throughout the game. Follow us.
How to watch USA vs Australia game
Peacock is streaming the game.
The U.S. clearly got a lecture from coach Cheryl Reeve before this game — or maybe one of her captains — and came out ready to play. The Americans jumped out to a 12-4 lead, forcing Australia to burn a timeout. Once the Aussies got their footing, they cut the deficit to 18-16 before the U.S. scored a couple of quick baskets.
As usual, the stars are on hand to watch Team USA perform. Kevin Durant sits courtside, alongside Dawn Staley, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. Vanessa Bryant and her daughters are also in the VIP row.
- Chelsea Gray
- A’Ja Wilson
- Breanna Stewart
- Jackie Young
- Naphessa Necklace
The Americans have the same starting five as they did in the quarterfinals, with Jackie Young retaining her starting role opposite Diana Taurasi. That’s not surprising given the momentum Young has given the Americans on offense and defense. She typically guards the other team’s best player on the perimeter.
Australia is an experienced and talented team, with one of the WNBA’s brightest young stars in Ezi Magbegor. If they were at full strength (Becca Allen is injured), the Australians could probably make a difference against Team USA, as their other WNBA players, Sami Whitcomb, Alanna Smith and others, won’t be afraid of the Americans. But depth will make the difference here, and the U.S. should win easily.
Prediction: USA 82, Australia 67
Much has been made of the age of Diana Taurasi (42), an 11-time WNBA All-Star who is aiming for her sixth gold medal in Paris. But did you know that the oldest player in this tournament, and the oldest to ever play Olympic basketball, is actually Lauren Jackson of Australia?
After missing the last two Olympics, the three-time WNBA MVP is back with the Opals. Her role is reduced but she’s excited to be here.
Learn more about Jackson, Taurasi and LeBron James, 39, who continue to chase gold in their ‘geriatric’ years
USA Women’s Basketball Results and Schedule
2024 Women’s Basketball Olympics Schedule
Here are the remaining events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
- August 9: Semifinals, 11:30 a.m. ET and 3:00 p.m. ET
- August 11: Bronze Medal Game, 5:30 a.m. ET
- August 11: Gold Medal Game, 9:30 a.m. ET
United States Women’s Olympic Basketball Team Roster
The U.S. women’s basketball team is comprised of eight WNBA champions, three WNBA MVPs and five WNBA Rookies of the Year.
- Guards: Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Diana Taurasi, Jackie Young
- Attackers: Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier
- Center: Brittney Griner
Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, will be the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2024. Kara Lawson (Duke), Joni Taylor (Texas A&M) and Mike Thibault (Washington Mystics) will serve as Reeve’s assistant coaches. Reeve and her team previously led the U.S. women to a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
The United States dominated the Summer Games and won medals in every Olympics it participated in (it did not participate in the 1980 Olympics due to a national Olympic boycott).
In total, the United States women’s basketball team has won 11 medals: nine gold, one silver (1976) and one bronze (1992). The Americans have won seven consecutive gold medals since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Brittney Griner knows that the face she presents to the world is often a mask.
She knows that what you see—the goofy smile, the 6-foot-tall kid who loves skateboarding and off-roading, the intimidating blocker on the basketball court—is only a fraction of the truth.
To outsiders, Griner appears to have recovered quickly from her ten months in Russian detention, a terrifying and isolating period that would have broken most people. As she poses for photos with fans, and easily manages to hoist a ball 8 feet, it seems as if things have returned to normal. But they haven’t, and neither has she.
“It’s always with me, and there are definitely times when I’m like, ‘Oh wow, this could be totally different — I could see that beautiful view through the bars,’” Griner said Saturday from training in the United States. “It doesn’t go away. It also makes you appreciate everything a little bit more.”
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 win six gold medals in Paris.
