Women's Basketball: Usa Beat Aussies, Advances To Final

In a match labeled the "clash of titans," the USA came out on top.



The USA beat Australia 82-70 in the FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) World Championship for Women semi-final match and advanced to the final for the tenth time in the tournament history.



As the USA is currently the reigning champion, and Australia won the title in 2006, titanic play was expected from both sides. 



The Australian women, also known as the "Opals," started the game with a strong defense, but could not prevent the USA team from finding inside baskets, and finished the first quarter trailing by three points, 19-16.



Mighty USA pushed the tempo in the second quarter and slowly increased its lead. They were up by 12 points after the first half.



The match-up became tight throughout the third quarter as the Aussies narrowed the lead to nine just entering the last quarter.



Under superstar shooting guard Maya Moore's leadership and center Tina Charles' strong inside presence, the USA managed to hold on to its lead and to earn themselves a ticket to the finals again.



Australia's shooting guard Erin Phillips was the high-scorer in the game with 19 points, but Charles' 18 points, Moore's 16 points and guard Diana Taurasi's 11 points were enough for the USA to advance to the finals.



With that win under its belt, USA will play against Spain for the gold medal and Australia will take on Turkey, which hosts the tournament, for a bronze medal on Sunday.



Four games will be on the menu for the last day of the tournament. The schedule is as follows:



2 p.m. local time (1700GMT): Classification 7th place:  Serbia vs. France



4: 15 p.m. local time (1915GMT):  Classification 5th place:  Canada vs. China 



7 p.m. local time (2200GMT): Third Place match: Turkey vs. Australia



9: 15 p.m. local time (0015GMT): Final: USA vs. Spain



www.aa.com.tr/en/sports - İstanbul