The USA women accomplished what the men failed to do by winning a gold medal at the Olympics on Saturday.

In a tough battle against the Australians, Van Chancellor's Americans triumphed 74-63.

The United States, the dominant force in the women's game since 1996 in Atlanta, have now won three golds on the trot at the Summer Games and they have taken titles at FIBA's World Championships in between, too.

In Sydney four years ago, the USA women also beat Australia in the championship game.

A USA team that has no shortage of scorers had four players in double figures, with outstanding power forward Tina Thompson pouring in a game-high 18.

Captain Dawn Staley and Lisa Leslie, two players who now have three gold medals with the US team, contributed 14 and 13, respectively.

Shannon Johnson, the spark plug reserve point guard, added 12 points while also playing ferocious defence against Australian counterpart Kirsti Harrower.

Australia's Lauren Jackson was never given an opportunity to get in the game and finished with 12 points - well below her tournament average 24.4.

Her team-mate Penny Taylor, a fellow player in the WNBA, led the Australians with 16 points.

The captain of the Opals, Trish Fallon, told PA International: "It's disappointing to lose but it's a silver medal.

"We've got to be happy, we did as much as we could on the day, so (I told the players) keep your heads high and enjoy the silver medal.

"In Sydney, the game was pretty ugly for us, but we were in the game all the time here, so we always had a chance in the second half, especially in the third and fourth quarter."

The USA never looked to be in serious trouble but the Australians, thanks in large part to Taylor - 14 of her points were scored in the second half - stayed close.

Chancellor's players were able to stamp their authority on the match in the fourth quarter when they started to win the rebounding battle.

At half-time, the Australians trailed 29-26 but had 21 boards to just 17 for the Americans.

By the end of the game, the USA had 34 rebounds to just 30 for the Opals.

"Their boards really hurt us in the second half and that was probably the difference," said Fallon.

Russia, who lost to the United States 66-64 on Friday in one semi-final, beat Brazil 71-62 to claim the bronze medal.