| Head coach | Billie Moore |
|---|---|
| 1976 Summer Olympics |  |
← None 1984 → | |
The1976 United States women's Olympic basketball team competed in theGames of the XXI Olympiad inMontreal, Canada, representing theUnited 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 byCal State Fullerton's women's basketball coachBillie Moore and had four futureHall of Famers on the roster:Ann Meyers,Nancy Lieberman,Lusia Harris, andPat 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 forwomen's basketball to flourish in the United States. As a unit, the team was elected to theNaismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
| United States women's national basketball team – 1976 Summer Olympics roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Sue Gunter
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The first women's Olympic basketball tournament consisted of a singleround-robin group, where the group rankings determined the final standings. TheSoviet team went undefeated and won the gold medal. TheU.S. team won the silver medal through a victory over theBulgarian team, which served as the tiebreaker between the two teams in favor of the U.S. team.[2]
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]
