Give A’ja Wilson points for succinctness.
Asked in an on-court interview after the U.S. women’s basketball team’s gold-medal win at the Olympics to give one word to describe teammate Kahleah Copper, Wilson didn’t need much time to think.
“That bitch,” Wilson said, getting the swear word past NBC’s censors before walking off.
Copper, who finished with 12 points, hit a crucial pair of free throws with 3.9 seconds to go, putting Team USA up by three.
That ended up being the reason the game ended in regulation, as Gabby Williams banked in a shot at the buzzer for France, but had her foot on the 3-point line.
That meant Team USA took gold, 67-66, in the last medal awarded of the Olympics.
It was the eighth straight American gold medal in women’s basketball, and the 61st straight victory for the program at the Olympics.
The gold was also Team USA’s 40th of the Summer Games, tying China for the most overall.
It was the first time that two countries have finished tied atop the gold medal count. (Team USA easily won the overall medal count).
Given the dominance of the women’s basketball program, that was nothing less than what was expected.
In fact, the close call against France was as close as they’ve come to a loss since 1992 — before Wilson or Copper were born.
The worst-case scenario, however, didn’t come to pass after Copper’s free throws bailed Team USA out.