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A Perfect Ending For U.S. Women

ATLANTA, Aug. 4—The competition in these Centennial Olympics came to a close shortly before 8 tonight, but not before 12 more American women received gold medals.

The U.S. women's basketball team completed its task and put the seal on one of the predominant themes of this Olympiad by beating Brazil, 111-87, to win the gold medal.

There were some echoes of the success of other American women at the Georgia Dome. The U.S. women's soccer team, which also won a gold medal, took the floor for a salute before the game. In their celebration afterward, basketball team members Jennifer Azzi, Dawn Staley and Teresa Edwards did cartwheels on the court. Though they didn't match the style of America's female gymnasts, they captured the spirit of the gymnasts and the U.S. softball team, which played—and won the gold—with joyful abandon.

Tonight, however, the United States showcased the best that its team and its sport had to offer with a game that thrilled the crowd of 32,997. Center Lisa Leslie worked her way inside to score 29 points on 12 of 14 shooting. Ruthie Bolton made fast-break layups and long three-pointers to score 15 points. And with the Americans holding a commanding lead in the second half, Dawn Staley was free to perform her crowd-pleasing, behind-the-head and no-look passes. Edwards, who opened the Games more than two weeks ago by taking the athletes' oath, became the first American basketball player to win three gold medals.

From the start, the United States and Brazil played at a breathtaking pace. Blink and you might miss a basket. Or two. The United States scored on nine straight possessions—and it still wasn't enough to shake Brazil. All the Americans had to show for their hot streak was an eight-point lead. That quickly shrank to two when Marta scored four points and Janeth hit a jumper.

Marta had been going to the basket at will against Leslie and the American defense, scoring 11 points in nine minutes. But Marta picked up her third foul with 9 minutes 22 seconds left and sat out the rest of the half. With Marta gone, Leslie went to work, scoring seven points in a 15-7 run that put the United States up by 10.

Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with five seconds left that had the Americans up by 11 at the half as they pumped their fists and ran to the locker room. It was too early to celebrate, but it was an astounding half of basketball. The Americans shot 72 percent and scored 57 points in 20 minutes. Brazil made 49 percent of its shots, but grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points.

Brazil likes to run, but it is not so willing to get back on defense to prevent opponents from going on the fast-break. That wasn't so much of a problem against a big, slow team like that of Ukraine, which Brazil beat in the semifinals. But that plays right into the hands of the speedy Americans. And the Brazilians don't have enough substitutes to keep up with the United States.

The United States turned up the pressure at the start of the second half by playing a smothering defense that resulted in two turnovers and a blocked shot. The Americans scored the first eight points to extend their lead to 17.

The U.S. women's team had been perhaps the most mercenary of any of the U.S. team sports. The team was formed after tryouts in May 1995, and endured a grueling year of training, touring and playing a series of 52 exhibition games. The women were given a multifaceted task: promote the sport, set the stage for the return of professional women's basketball to the United States and, above all else, win the gold medal the United States had lost to the Unified Team in 1992.

Tara VanDerveer took a year off from her duties at Stanford to coach the team. The players returned home from their leagues in Europe and Japan, where they made six-figure salaries, and received instead $50,000 each from USA Basketball—although stars such as Leslie and Swoopes made additional money from endorsements.

They didn't back away from any of their tasks, realizing that what they represented was far greater than just 12 players in uniforms. Yet the U.S. women never let it become a distraction. They never lost, finishing 60-0 after their sweep through the eight-game Olympic competition.

And in the gold medal game, every player scored. A true team to the very end.