Australia will play the USA once again for the gold medal in Olympic women's basketball, giving Australia the chance to win it’s 11^th gold. The Opals comprehensively defeated China 90-56 and the Americans got over the line against Russia 67-52 in the semi-finals.

Perhaps reason to be optimistic for the Aussies, the USA trailed Russia for much of the first half, before defense kicked in to hold Russia to just eight points in the third term to finally get their heads in front and gain the ascendancy.

The Australians were given the challenge by China, who played a physical game and often escaped without penalty, however too good on paper (even without star forward Penny Taylor in the line-up) and on the day, Australia took the game out easily.

In Taylor’s absence, Belinda Snell rose to the occasion with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Kristi Harrower followed on the score sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists, whereas Aussie star Lauren Jackson had a quiet game by her standards, contributing 11 points and 10 rebounds.

After beginning the game with many offensive mistakes and misses, The Opals pulled things together a little better in the second term, however the defence was the dominant party, holding China  to just seven points for the quarter.

The Opals have much to improve on at the free-throw line and from the 3 point zone as well, missing all 10 attempts at 3 points in the first half, but the potential for dramatic improvement in this area will only give the Opals more confidence heading into the Gold Medal game.

Tags: australia, basketball, beijing olympics, gold