1996 United States women's Olympic basketball team

The 1996 United States women's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XXVI Olympiad which were held in Atlanta, Georgia. The U.S. women's Olympic team won their third gold medal at the event, going undefeated and beating Brazil in the Gold medal final. The team is considered to be one of the best in women's basketball history.[1]

1996 United States women's Olympic basketball team
Head coachTara VanDerveer
1996 Summer Olympics

Roster
United States women's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
PG Jennifer Azzi 27 – (1968-08-31)August 31, 1968 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Stanford
G Ruthie Bolton-Holifield 29 – (1967-05-25)May 25, 1967 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) U.S. national team
SG Teresa Edwards 32 – (1964-06-19)June 19, 1964 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) US Valenciennes Olympic
F Venus Lacy 29 – (1967-02-09)February 9, 1967 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) U.S. national team
F/C Lisa Leslie 24 – (1972-07-07)July 7, 1972 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) USC
F/C Rebecca Lobo 22 – (1973-10-06)October 6, 1973 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) UConn
F Katrina McClain 31 – (1965-07-19)July 19, 1965 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Galatasaray
G Nikki McCray 24 – (1971-12-17)December 17, 1971 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) U.S. national team
F/C Carla McGhee 28 – (1968-03-03)March 3, 1968 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) U.S. national team
G Dawn Staley 26 – (1970-05-04)May 4, 1970 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) Tarbes Gespe Bigorre
SF Katy Steding 28 – (1967-12-11)December 11, 1967 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) U.S. national team
F Sheryl Swoopes 25 – (1971-03-25)March 25, 1971 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) U.S. national team
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Katie Smith
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on July 26, 1996
  • Source – [2]

Results
Main article: Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Group stage
21 July 1996 (1996-07-21)
United States  101–84  Cuba
Pts: Leslie 24
Rebs: Leslie 7
Asts: Edwards 9		 Pts: Martínez 21
Rebs: Víctores 8
Asts: Lagnó 6
23 July 1996 (1996-07-23)
Ukraine  65–98  United States
Pts: Nazarenko 14
Rebs: Shliakhova 5
Asts: four players 2		 Pts: Bolton 21
Rebs: Leslie 9
Asts: Swoopes 7
25 July 1996 (1996-07-25)
United States  107–47  Zaire
Pts: Azzi 18
Rebs: McCray 8
Asts: Edwards 5		 Pts: Ngalula 17
Rebs: Tshijuka, Lobela 5
Asts: Mabika 3
27 July 1996 (1996-07-27)
Australia  79–96  United States
Pts: Timms 26
Rebs: Sporn 7
Asts: Maher 3		 Pts: McClain 24
Rebs: McClain 11
Asts: Edwards 15
29 July 1996 (1996-07-29)
South Korea  64–105  United States
Pts: Jung S-m 17
Rebs: Jung S-m 6
Asts: Chun J-w 7		 Pts: McCray 16
Rebs: McCray 9
Asts: Swoopes 4

Quarterfinal
31 July 1996 (1996-07-31)
15:00
United States  108–93  Japan
Scoring by half: 59–44, 49–49
Pts: Leslie 35
Rebs: McClain 16
Asts: Edwards 12		 Pts: Ichijo, Hagiwara 22
Rebs: Kato 8
Asts: Murakami 10

Semifinal
2 August 1996 (1996-08-02)
17:00
Australia  71–93  United States
Scoring by half: 32–47, 39–46
Pts: Timms 27
Rebs: Maher 6
Asts: Timms 4		 Pts: Leslie 22
Rebs: McClain 15
Asts: Edwards 8

Gold Medal Final
4 August 1996 (1996-08-04)
18:35
Brazil  87–111  United States
Scoring by half: 46–57, 41–54
Pts: Arcain 24
Rebs: Alessandra 9
Asts: Paula 10		 Pts: Leslie 29
Rebs: Leslie 6
Asts: Edwards 10

Legacy

The '96 Olympic team is considered to be the best women's national team assembled.[11] It is also credited with helping launch the WNBA, the most successful professional women's basketball league in the United States and around the world.[12]

In 2022, ESPN aired a 30 for 30 three-part documentary series on the team called "Dream On".[13] It highlighted how far women's basketball (and in sports in general) have come and also what remains to be achieved.[14]

See also

References
  1. Moran, Malcolm (August 5, 1996). "U.S. Women Finish Lengthy Tour on Top of World". The New York Times.
  2. Zaccardi, Nick (June 8, 2016). "Atlanta 1996 Olympic women's basketball team: Where are they now". NBC Sports.
  3. "USA vs. CUB: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  4. "UKR vs. USA: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  5. "USA vs. ZAI: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  6. "AUS vs. USA: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  7. "KOR vs. USA: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  8. "USA vs. JPN: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  9. "AUS vs. USA: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  10. "BRA vs. USA: Boxscore". Olympedia.
  11. Carroll, Charlotte (July 27, 2021). "'Carry the torch': How the '96 Olympic gold medal team shaped women's basketball". The Athletic.
  12. Voepel, Mechelle (June 15, 2022). "'Dream On' documentary chronicles how the 1996 U.S. women's Olympic team helped launch the WNBA". ESPN.
  13. Deitsch, Richard (June 13, 2022). "ESPN's 'Dream On': Inside the best sports documentary I've seen in 2022". The Athletic.
  14. Taylor, Myah (June 23, 2022). "'Dream On' highlights how far women in sports have come and what's left to accomplish". Los Angeles Times.
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