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It helped to clinch a 61st match win in a row for the American team who got their eighth straight gold medal for an Olympic team event record.
Their last defeat was in the 1992 semi-finals against the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
But this victory which gave U.S player Diana Taurasi, who didn’t play in the final, a sixth Olympic gold in a row was very important for the Americans.
It came the day after the U.S had also beaten France for the men’s gold, the first time that both Olympic finals were contested by the same teams.
The victory equally saw the U.S snatching first place in the final Paris medals table with a 40-44-42 haul from China which had 40-27-24.
During the match, a tense affair had seen the U.S up 15-9 in a low scoring first quarter.
But it was all square at 25-25 by half-time.
France returned from the dressing room on fire with a 10-0 run, but the U.S composed themselves to earn the next eight points.
The U.S seemed safe when a pair of free throws from Kelsey Plum with 11.5 seconds left put them up by two scores, 65-61.
But a three-pointer from Williams made it a one-score game again.
Kahleah Copper made it 67-64 from the free throw line with 3.9 seconds on the clock, and it gave France one final chance.
They moved the ball up quickly to Williams who converted but she had just entered the arc with her feet which proved decisive.
“Losing by one point is something really hard, but we can be proud of what we did,” French coach Jean Aime Toupane said of his team.
“We didn’t have like, you know, cool minds, cool spirit to play for gold. That kind of experience. We are building this team here.
“The U.S team, they have been at this level since maybe 10 years now.
“When you challenge them, you have to be almost perfect, and expect they’re going to be a little bit less. But tonight they showed us they’re a really good team.”
Williams led France with 19 points and seven rebounds while Wilson had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the U.S.
Earlier in the day, Australia had beaten Belgium 85-81 to claim the bronze medal.
