1976 United States women's Olympic basketball team
| Head coach | Billie Moore |
|---|---|
| 1976 Summer Olympics |  |
The 1976 United States women's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Canada, representing the United States of America. It was the first time the United States had fielded a women's basketball team in the Olympics.
The team was led by Cal State Fullerton's women's basketball coach Billie Moore and had four future Hall of Famers on the roster: Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman, Lusia Harris, and Pat Summitt (then called Pat Head).
Despite finishing second place behind the Soviet Union, the team is considered one of the most important in basketball history, paving the way for women's basketball to flourish in the United States. As a unit, the team was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
Roster
[edit]| United States women's national basketball team – 1976 Summer Olympics roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 Sue Gunter
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Results
[edit]The first women's Olympic basketball tournament consisted of a single round-robin group, where the group rankings determined the final standings. The Soviet team went undefeated and won the gold medal. The U.S. team won the silver medal through a victory over the Bulgarian team, which served as the tiebreaker between the two teams in favor of the U.S. team.[2]
Legacy
[edit]In 2023, the 1976 US Olympic women's basketball team was elected as a unit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The election made it only the ninth team to be so honored.[3]
See also
[edit]- 1976 Summer Olympics
- Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- United States women's national basketball team
References
[edit]- ^ "Time Capsule: Women made first Olympic splash at Montreal Games in 1976". FIBA. March 8, 2021.
- ^ "1976 Olympic Games Tournament for Women: Group Standings". FIBA Archive.
- ^ Brennan, Clare (August 11, 2023). "The 1976 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team Forever Changed Sports". Sports Illustrated.
