Women's Olympic Basketball 2012 Scores: Semifinal Results, Stats & More

The quarterfinals of the women's basketball tournament at the 2012 London Olympics have come to a close, meaning that the field has been whittled down to just four teams in the semifinals.

Twelve nations entered these Games with high hopes of making the hometown fans proud, but only one group of women will garner the ultimate prize—an Olympic gold medal.

Of course, there are two others who will also bring home medals, and only time will tell which countries will be so lucky.

We won't spoil the fun and tell you who the last four are on the opening slide, so read on to find out.

Matchup 1: United States vs. Australia, Thursday, August 9

UPDATE: Thursday, August 9 at 1:45 p.m. ET by Timothy Rapp

It didn't come without a struggle, but the United States have advanced to a fifth-straight gold-medal game, defeating Australia 86-73. It was the U.S. women's 40th-consecutive win in Olympic play.

Australia played a solid game, and even led the United States at halftime, 47-43. Liz Cambagage (19 points, seven rebounds) and Lauren Jackson (14 points, 17 rebounds) led the Aussies, but they couldn't do enough to hold off a talented United States squad.

The U.S. was led by the huge effort of Tina Charles (14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) and the usual production from Diana Taurasi (14 points), Sue Bird (13 points) and Tamika Catchings (seven points, seven rebounds).

The United States will France for the gold medal.

----------END OF UPDATE----------

Australia, the No. 3 team in the FIBA world rankings, played itself into a semifinal game by defeating China 75-60 in the opening game on Tuesday in London.

The Opals led by just three points after the third quarter but outscored the Chinese by 12 points in the final period to seal the deal. There's no denying that it was an impressive victory, but the Australians meet a juggernaut in the semifinals.

Team USA has run roughshod over the entire field during this tournament, posting a 226-point scoring differential through the first six games.

Its most recent drubbing, a 91-48 walloping, came at the expense of Northern rival Canada in the quarterfinals to set up a date with the Aussies.

Unfortunately for Australia, the Americans have gotten better as the tournament has progressed. They have so many weapons to look to in all facets of the game, but the one area where they aren't the best in the field is on the boards.

If Candace Parker and company can contain Lauren Jackson (6'5") and Elizabeth Cambage (6'8") on the glass, they will have no problem advancing to the gold medal match with ease.

Even if the two Australian giants dominate down low, the Americans will be able to pull this one out.

Matchup 2: Russia vs. France, Thursday, August 9

UPDATE: Thursday, August 9 at 5:45 p.m. ET by Timothy Rapp

The French women used a blazing start and strong finish to knock off the Russians, 81-64, earning a trip to the gold-medal game where they'll face the United States.

Lucky them.

The French opened with a 25-14 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, closing strong by outscoring the Russians 22-13 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. France was led by Edwige Lawson-Wade (18 points, five assists), Emilie Gomis (15 points) and Sandrine Gruda (11 points, eight rebounds).

Russia was led by Becky Hammon (13 points, five assists) and Alena Danilochkina (13 points, five rebounds), but it wasn't enough to overcome the French, who have yet to lose a game in this tournament.

The Russians will face Australia in the bronze-medal game.

----------END OF UPDATE---------

Russia advanced to the semifinals after a nail-biting 66-63 win over Turkey in the third quarterfinal game of the day.

Nevriye Yilmaz led the charge for the Russians in the winning effort with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting in 37 minutes of playing time. Her team will desperately need her to duplicate that effort against France, as Russia has posted the second-lowest scoring average of any team in the tournament.

The French have a flair for the dramatic. That much was evident in their comeback victory over the Czech Republic to get to this point. After trailing by 10 heading into the third quarter, Celine Dumerc drilled a three-pointer from the wing to give her team a lead that wouldn't be relinquished.

These two teams have already met in this tournament, a matchup that saw France come away with a 65-54 win thanks to a 30-point third quarter.

Dumerc was the catalyst in that one as well, so look for her to facilitate the offense for France.

Russia is clearly the better team in this matchup, as France has consistently fallen victim to long stretches of futility during games. That being said, I'm going with the French to score an upset win over the No. 2-ranked team in the world.