Facts & Photos: 1988 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were to be held July 24-Aug. 9, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Summer Games to 2021. USA Basketball is celebrating the original dates of the 2020 Olympics with a look back at past U.S. Olympic men’s and women’s basketball teams through photos and fun facts. Be sure to check in daily for Olympic memories galore!
On this day in USA Basketball Olympic History: July 31
- Between 1948 and 2012, there were six USA games played in the Olympics. In 2012 Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love tallied 16 points each as the USA defeated Tunisia 110-63; the 1996 women defeated Japan 108-96 in the quarterfinals as Lisa Leslie scored a USA single-game Olympic women’s record 35 points and Katrina McClain tied the rebounding record with 16; Charles Barkley’s 30 points led the 1992 Dream Team to a 127-83 win over Brazil; Cheryl Miller scored 20 points to help the 1984 squad to a 81-47 thrashing of Australia; in 1952, Clyde Levelette topped the USA’s scorers with 27 points in a 85-76 downing of Argentina; and the 1948 men, behind 19 points from Alex Groza, defeated Switzerland 86-21.
- Video (YouTube): Second Half of 1988 USA Women vs. Yugoslavia
- Complete Recap of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team
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With the 1988 Olympics taking place in Seoul, South Korea, the U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team had t-shirts that said, 'Sole Goal - Seoul Gold.'
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The USA’s 101-74 win over Yugoslavia in its second game marked the first time a U.S. women’s basketball team had scored 100 points in Olympic play.
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In a much-anticipated matchup, the U.S. women topped the Soviet Union for the first time in Olympic action with a 102-88 win in its fourth game. While the USA defeated the Soviets in the 1986 FIBA World Cup, the USA’s 1988 Olympic gold medal underscored the fact that the USA had become the country to beat in women’s basketball.  |
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Anne Donovan was named to her third Olympic roster as an athlete in 1988. She also suited up for the U.S. in the 1984 Olympics and was named to the 1980 team that did not take part in the Olympics. She went on to help the USA to Olympic gold as an assistant in 2004 and the head coach in 2008.
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| 1988 was a second Olympic Games for Teresa Edwards, who also played in the 1984 Olympics and would go on to become a five-time Olympic medalist after also earning her spot on the 1992, 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic rosters.
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Katrina McClain played in her first of three Olympics in 1988, she returned to Olympic rosters in 1992 and 1996. In 1988, she averaged a U.S. Olympic record 10.8 rebounds per game.
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