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LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - France made sure of winning their
first Olympic women's basketball medal by beating Russia 81-64
on Thursday to advance to the final against the long-reigning
United States team.
The U.S., who have not lost at the Games in 20 years, beat
Australia 86-73 in their semi-final to stretch their Olympic
winning streak to 40 as they bid for a fifth straight gold.
"We know that USA is so good," said back-up point guard
Edwige Lawson-Wade, who was high scorer in the game with 18
points. "Every position, every player they have can play really
well.
"To beat the USA you have to do the perfect game. Perfect in
defence, perfect in offence. It's something that happens once
every few years, but it happens. So anything is possible. So
we're going to play that game to win."
France, who finished fifth in their only previous Olympic
women's tournament at the 2000 Sydney Games, surged to a 24-15
lead in the first quarter after scoring the first eight points.
They built a 13-point lead in the second quarter before
Russia closed an 8-2 run to make it 38-31 at halftime.
Russia continued their comeback after the break and, boosted
by a three-pointer by Becky Hammon, closed within 42-40.
That seemed to fire up the French who rallied behind captain
Celine Dumerc and Isabelle Yacoubou and finished the quarter
strongly to carry a 59-51 lead into the final quarter which
ended in a long celebration for the French.
They danced together in a circle on the court and sang 'La
Marseillaise', the French national anthem, with their fans at
the North Greenwich Arena, rejoicing with members of the men's
team including Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum.
Besides Lawson-Wade, five other French players scored in
double figures in a balanced attack that has carried the
unheralded team to a 7-0 tournament record.
"Nobody talks about us. We don't exist in the Olympic
Village," said French coach Pierre Vincent. "The only way to
exist is to win. I told the girls in the locker room, if we win,
we will exist."
Hammon complimented France, but said a poor shooting
performance in which Russia made little more than a third of
their shots had ruined their chances.
"They're a very good team, they're playing very well right
now. They're playing very confident," Hammon said. "We just
didn't have enough offensive firepower.
"We've got good shooters but you got to make them when the
lights come on."
Alena Danilochkina and Hammon shared scoring honours for
EuroBasket champions Russia with 13 points.
The United States and France will play the gold medal match
on Saturday when Russia and Australia battle for bronze.
(Additional reporting by William James and Romain Brunet;
Editing by Ken Ferris and Nigel Hunt)