U.S. Women's Hoops Heads to 8th Straight Olympic Final

PARIS -- Watching the Americans execute the offense and share the ball over the past two weeks in France has been somewhere between a clinic and an exhibition. The ball moves with an unselfishness, confidence, and ease that belies the idea that this team was relatively rushed together.

The display Friday night was brilliant and at the same time typical, as Team USA racked up 31 assists on its way to an 85-64 semifinal victory over Australia. The Americans, now winners of 60 consecutive Olympic games, will play for their eighth straight gold medal Sunday.

"It speaks to the journey that we've been on that they don't care who gets the credit, they just want to win," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "And we said that we could reach our greatest heights if we could be that. And we've done that, so I'm really proud of us for that."

Breanna Stewart, whose ability to outrun almost everyone on the floor at all times earns her so many good looks, had another strong game with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with six rebounds and five assists.

Her dominant frontcourt mate A'ja Wilson put in 10 points with eight rebounds. Wilson, who is a little under the weather, wasn't quite as active as usual on offense but still was a major factor on defense with four blocks and two steals.

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Australia, which played nearly 32 minutes before getting to the foul line, has relied on 3-point shooting as its best weapon throughout the Olympics. But it went just 7-of-29 against the Team USA defense. The Aussies were led by 11 points from 19-year-old Isobel Borlase.

The raw numbers showed the Americans had assists on 27 of their first 28 baskets, a number that is hard to fathom unless you see how Team USA cuts and screens as it operates what can only be described as a beautiful brand of basketball.