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Team USA Basketball: Women Win Fifth Consecutive Gold Medal

After a slower than expected start in the gold medal game, the United States women's basketball team ended up easily defeating France 86-50 to win their fifth straight gold medal. The win marks the first time in Olympic history that a women's team in any sport has won five consecutive gold medals.

France trailed by only five points at the end of the first quarter and 12 at the end of the half. However, Team USA came alive in the third quarter, outscoring the French 26-12 to end any chance of a comeback.

The Americans were led by Candace Parker, who had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Sue Bird added 11 while Diana Taurasi chipped in 9 points and 6 assists.

Duncanville native Tamika Catchings won her third gold medal in what will probably be her swan song at the Olympics. Fittingly, she impacted the game all over the box score, with 4 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.

For a complete breakdown of the current medal count by country, visit Sports Illustrated's medal count tracker.

For the latest on the 2012 Olympic Games, check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics hub.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.