LONDON (Olympics) - The United States have won gold in the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament for a fifth consecutive time after beating France 86-50 in the Final on Saturday.

The USA led for most of the night but truly put the game beyond brave France's reach in a pivotal third quarter.

Trailing 37-25 at halftime, France got within 43-32 on a free-throw by Sandrine Gruda with 6:54 left to play.

However, the French then went on a scoring drought for the next 5:41 while the USA scored 19 unanswered points for a commanding 62-32 advantage.

Diana Taurasi got inside for a pair of easy baskets, Sue Bird hit a three-pointer for a 50-32 advantage.

Taurasi then worked the pick-and-roll to perfection with Candace Parker who scored inside, before Bird released Maya Moore for a fastbreak lay-up and Angel McCoughtry scored the next five points to make it 59-32.

"When Candace Parker came into the game, she completely changed the game," said USA coach Geno Auriemma.

Sylvia Fowles capped the run with a pair of free-throws.

The Americans then stretched their lead to over 30 points in the fourth quarter to put the result beyond doubt.

In the early stages of the game, France were able to match the Americans as they edged in front 13-11 on Edwige Lawson-Wade's three-pointer with 3:56 left in the first quarter.

Geno Auriemma's charges then went on a 9-2 run to close out the period with a 20-15 advantage.

Les Bleues cut the deficit to three several times in the early stages of the second quarter before Parker stepped up big for the Americans, spearheading a run of nine consecutive points for their biggest lead of the first half, 37-24.

Parker already had 15 points and nine rebounds at halftime.

"She's one of those players that can really do anything on the court and it's what separates her from other players," said teammate Taurasi about Parker.

"It's what makes this team great - any given night, any player can take over. As a team, that's the way we want to play."

Pierre Vincent's team had a tough time of it in the second period, scoring only 10 total points and going on a scoring drought for almost four minutes.

Those struggles were reflected on the stats sheet, as they shot just 9 of 32 (28 percent) from the field, compared to 15 of 38 (39 percent) for their opponents.

"They didn't give us anything," admitted Celine Dumerc.

"Every small detail, anything we didn't do perfectly they killed us on."

Parker finished with 21 points and Bird added 11 for the USA. They were their team's only two players to score in double-digits, but all 12 got on the scoring sheet.

Lawson-Wade and Gruda paced France with 12 points each.

FIBA