By Scott Pitoniak
Gannett News Service

ATHENS - About an hour after his U.S. women's basketball team had won the gold, coach Van Chancellor was asked to sum up the legacy of Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Dawn Staley.

"Well, I've never been very good at math," the longtime coach drawled following the Americans' 74-63 victory vs. Australia at Olympic Indoor Hall Saturday afternoon. "But I do know that three times three is nine, and that's how many Olympic gold medals they now have between them, so I'd say that sums it up pretty good."

Yes, it does.

"From the moment I took over as their coach in 2002, they bought into everything I've tried to do," he said after the U.S. completed an 8-0 record in these Games and extended its Olympic winning streak to 25.

"I can't tell you how much easier that makes a coach's life when the team's leaders not only buy into what you are selling, but help you sell it to the other players. They made this a situation where we got contributions from a lot of people."

There were many contributors against a talented Aussie team that made the U.S. sweat hard to gain its third consecutive gold.

Leslie, a 6-foot-5 center, did her part, totaling 13 points and eight rebounds. She was more valuable as a defender, helping to limit Aussie star Lauren Jackson to 12 points - 13 below her Olympic average.

"Coach came to me before the game and asked me if I wanted to guard Jackson, and I said yes," she said. "She is a great player. I just tried my best to make sure that every shot she took was a difficult one."

Jackson, a WNBA all-star with the Seattle Storm, hit just four of 16 shots.

"Lisa is by far the best player in the world," Staley said. "And until she retires, she will continue to hold that title."

Staley split time at point guard with Shannon Johnson. Staley scored 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting in her final Olympics, while Johnson had 12 points.

"I think that I showed that I still have a little offense left in me," Staley joked. "I got to hit a couple of shots and Lisa even passed me the ball down low, which she hasn't done in 16 years. That was great."

The U.S. received a huge boost from overshadowed forward Tina Thompson, who had a team-leading 18 points.

"When Tina is on, she's on," said Swoopes. "And she's usually on every game."

The Aussies, who had won seven straight games, led by as many as four points when Penny Taylor scored on a fast break with 1:53 to go in the third.

"I think that's the difference between us and the (U.S.) men's team in this tournament," Leslie said. "When times get tough and it looks like you might fold, we have three players with plenty of Olympic experience we can call upon. The men's team constantly turns over its roster. They don't have anybody with Olympic experience, and that's huge."

Said Tamika Catchings: "We wanted to go out there and show the world that America has the best women's basketball."

Mission accomplished.