Tag: US Women’s Basketball

Former Duke women’s basketball star Chelsea Gray dishes out 13 assists in Olympic victory

Team USA opened the Olympic women’s basketball tournament with a 102-76 victory over Japan partially thanks to Chelsea Gray’s 13 assists.

The United States women’s basketball team, one of the most dominant Olympic squads in recent history, opened up with more of the same in Paris.

Monday’s 102-76 victory over Japan was powered, in part, by former Duke basketball star [autotag]Chelsea Gray[/autotag]’s 13 (yes, 13) assists.

Gray, a three-time WNBA champion who won each of the last two titles with the Las Vegas Aces, only scored two points but sliced and diced the Japanese defense to set up her teammates. For context, Japan only logged 23 assists as a team.

Fans haven’t seen Gray much so far in 2024. She missed the start of the season with a foot injury she suffered during the 2023 WNBA Finals. She still made the Olympic team despite her absence, a testament to Team USA’s opinion of her talent, and returned to the Aces last month.

Gray played for the United States in Tokyo at the last Olympic Games, the most recent of Team USA’s seven consecutive gold medals.

Watch Gray’s final assist of the day, a no-look dish to Breanna Stewart into the paint, below. It’s worth the time.

The next game for Team USA comes on Thursday against Belgium.

Women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson announced as assistant for U.S. Olympic team

Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson, who won a gold medal with the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team in 2008, will serve on the 2024 coaching staff in Paris.

Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson will be in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.

The Blue Devils announced on Tuesday that their fourth-year coach was invited to be an assistant coach on the 2024 United States women’s Olympic basketball team.

“When I was a kid, my first athletic goal was to represent the U.S. in the Olympics,” Lawson said in a release from the team. “What an honor to be named to the staff for the Paris Olympics and to help the National Team chase another gold medal.”

Duke won 17 games in Lawson’s first full season, 2021-22, and improved to 26-7 last season. The Blue Devils are currently 16-7 this season and 8-4 in conference play.

Lawson helped the U.S. win a gold medal in women’s basketball during the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing. She led her nation’s team with 15 points in the gold medal game, a 92-65 victory over Australia.

The former guard also played for 13 seasons in the WNBA, winning a championship with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. She averaged a career-high 15.1 points in 2012 while playing for the Connecticut Sun.