PARIS — France was the official opponent; Team USA, its own worst enemy. One of the two? The Americans could overcome. But both? That’s a tough road. And against an eager, home-crowd-boosted team like France, it sure looked like the U.S. picked a bad game to have a bad game.
And then, it somehow got worse. After, arguably, the worst half of basketball the U.S. women have played on a world stage in the (now) 61-game win streak, France jumped out to an 8-0 run to start the second half and any assurance of “It’s Team USA, of course, they’ll be fine, of course, they’re going to come out different in the second half,” dissipated as fast as any of the cushions the Americans tried to build through the game.
Clinging to a one-point lead with 1:32 to go, it was Kahleah Copper’s number who was called for the play. She had to score to give Team USA a 3-point lead. The Americans had never run this play in a game, Copper had not yet been called upon as the “go-ahead” player in any crucial instance during these Games, but on a team that believes that each of its players can step up when her number is called — even after 38 minutes of frustration — every person on Team USA’s bench felt confident.
As she took to the floor, Diana Taurasi — the most decorated team…
