Women's Olympic Basketball 2012 Scores: Medal Round Results, Stats and More

It wasn't too pretty, but the U.S. women's basketball team won its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal, defeating France, 86-50, on Saturday.

Team USA came in averaging 91 points per game, but it struggled to find its offense early on. The Americans scored just 37 points in the first half, but thanks to some stifling defense, they went into the break with a 12-point lead.

In the third quarter, the U.S. began to assert its dominance.

Sue Bird—who took just two shots in the first half—caught fire early in the third, which spread the floor and opened up the paint for her teammates. With the French defenders forced to honor her outside shooting, Team USA was able to pick apart its opponents with backdoor cuts and pick-and-rolls through the lane.

The Americans outscored France 26-12 in the third quarter, officially putting the game out of reach. That didn't stop them from competing hard in the fourth though, as they continued to build their lead.

Former WNBA MVP Candace Parker was excellent throughout, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Bird also chipped in 11 points, while Diana Taurasi scored nine points and dished out seven assists.

Sandrine Gruda and Edwige Lawson-Wade scored 12 points apiece to lead France to its first women's basketball medal in Olympic history.

With the win Team USA finished 8-0 in London and boosted its Olympic winning streak to 41 games.

In the bronze-medal game, Australia outlasted a strong Russian squad, 83-74.

Lauren Jackson was dominant again for Australia, putting up 25 points and 11 rebounds. She was highly efficient, sinking seven of her 12 field-goal attempts (1-for-2 on threes) and shooting 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Jackson also received plenty of help from Kristi Harrower (21 points, four assists) and Suzy Batkovic (17 points, eight rebounds).

Russia got a strong performance from WNBA star Becky Hammon, who had 19 points, four assists and three rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Unfortunately, she was unable to lead her team to its third consecutive Olympic bronze.