News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
PARIS – Texas A&M women’s basketball head coach Joni Taylor and USA Basketball won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday after overcoming a double-digit deficit against France, 67-66, at Bercy Arena.
The Americans were down by as many as 10 points in the third quarter but fought back to claim their eighth-straight Olympic gold medal in the waning moments against the French. Team USA knocked down 27 free throws and dominated the paint by blocking six shots and grabbing 48 rebounds.
This gold medal marked the fifth of Taylor’s career with USA Basketball and the first Olympic medal on her resume. Taylor now boasts a 27-0 record in official competition with USA Basketball, including a spotless 6-0 mark at the Olympics this year as an assistant coach.
Taylor has served USA Basketball on a variety of occasions. She started off as a court coach at the 2018 USA U18 National Team Trials and then won gold as an assistant with the 2021 U19 World Cup Team. Taylor won gold as an assistant coach for the USA Women’s National Team at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and as head coach for the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2023, she added a fourth gold medal to her USA Basketball resume with a perfect 7-0 record as the head coach of the American U19 team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Taylor just finished her second year leading the Maroon & White and tied the largest win total jump in SEC history for a coach in their first to second years at a school since the start of the NCAA (1981-82). Taylor won 10 more games than in her first season and she also led the program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.