FINAL U.S. Defeats Australia, 92-65, for Gold Medal in Women’s Basketball

To follow the live coverage of the women’s basketball gold-medal game, click on “read more.” Feel free to join the discussion in the comments; it’s Saturday, so no need to disguise what you’re doing from the boss.

FINAL THOUGHTS The U.S. had four players in double figures: Lawson (15), Parker (14), Leslie (14) and Fowles (13). Lawson was the day’s M.V.P., rallying the USA from an early deficit with 11 first-half points. Lauren Jackson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Australia. Belinda Snell added 15 points, but none after halftime.

Team USA shot 65 percent (31 of 48) while Australia was at 24 percent (13 of 54). The Americans won by an average of 37.6 points in their eight games.

Leslie will get most of the attention after the game for winning her fourth gold, but the victory was the third at the Olympics for U.S. Coach Anne Donovan, who won two as a player (1984 and 1988) after making the team that boycotted the 1980 Games.

Have a good day. The Team USA men play for the gold after midnight. Check back for live updates.

11:45 ET It’s over. Parker tries a half-hearted dunk at the buzzer but it rims out. Final: USA 92, Australia 65. It wasn’t a game after the first quarter. You know, when you see U.S. teams like this one and the men’s team on their games, you have to wonder how this country ever loses in basketball. There is just so much talent available.

11:42 ET Jackson fouls out with 2:03 left. She scored 20 points, but it would have taken at least three copies of her to make a game of this one. Delisha Milton-Jones is the last U.S. player to get in the game; she scores on a layup and completes a 3-point play to make it 88-65.

11:40 ET NBC’s Mike Breen points out that not only has Leslie won her fourth gold medal, she has done it without losing a game (32-0). Wow.

11:35 ET This will be Australia’s fourth straight loss to the U.S. in the medal round — semifinals in 1996 and the last three finals. It’s 81-61 now and starting to look like the end of an average UConn women’s game. It won’t be long before the starters and standing on the bench cheering every play by the ‘scrubs.’ Taurasi’s 3 makes it 84-61 with 3:55 left, but she promptly commits her fifth foul and joins Leslie on the bench.

11:32 ET Leslie fouls out with 6:30 to play but gets hugs at the bench. Start polishing that fourth gold. Standing ovation for her from Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and the rest.

11:25 ET Bad shot there for Australia after they force a turnover. Jacckson needs to get the ball every time down; a team shooting under 30 percent has to go with its best player. The error hurts, too; back to back shots by Bird and another from Leslie push the lead back to 19 with seven minutes left. It’s not over, but it’s over, you know? USA, 75-56.

11:24 ET Tully Bevilaqua, one of Australia’s veterans, makes a 3 in the dying seconds of the quarter to make is 69-54 entering the fourth. Was that shot the start of something, or the last big one Australia will make today? If Jackson doesn’t get back in and get going, I say it’s the latter.

11:24 ET Parker goes to the line again. Two free throws are good, and the lead is back at 20, at 69-49. Man, she’s a tough player. If the lead holds — and how can’t it at this point? — she’ll have an N.C.A.A. title and a gold medal in the same year.

11:18 ET Penny Taylor goes out with her fourth foul. She’s 1 of 6 today. Jackson’s sitting too; is this the white flag? Parker’s free throws push the lead back to 18, 65-47.

11:15 ET Leslie picks up her fourth foul, taking a seat next to Taurasi, but again, Fowles is a very capable replacement. USA, 64-47, with 3:25 left in the third.

11:12 ET Sorry, Jackson didn’t go out. She does have three fouls.

11:11 ET Two free throws for Lawson, who now has 13 and is clearly the best point guard since Bob Cousy. Australia scores at the other end, cutting the lead to 12, but Jackson commits another foul and has to sit. She’s been the Opals’ best player since halftime (Snell hasn’t scored), so this is Team USA’s first chance to really put this away.

11:08 Taurasi picks up her fourth foul, driving into Taylor at the low block. Sending her to the bench might be a good thing for Australia, but Tamika Catchings trots on to take her place. Ugh.

11:05 ET Taylor drives for her first basket, but she’s clearly a step slower on that bad ankle. Still, Australlia can’t trade hoop for hoop; they’ll need to make a lot of 3s to make this a game again. USA, 55-40 with 6:50 left in the third.

11:02 Two free throws by Taurasi make it 51-31 three minutes into the second half — Team USA’s biggest lead — but Australia answers with two quick hoops, then Jackson drives, scores and draws a foul. They’re trying to make a run, so Donovan calls timeout before the free throw.

10:57 A couple thoughts. If not for Belinda Snell, who had 15 points and was 3 of 6 on 3-pointers, this would be a TKO. Lawson had 11 points, and Leslie and Parker 8 each. USA leads, 20-7, in points off the bench. That’s most of your lead right there.

10:45 ET — HALFTIME A 3 by Lawson — she has 11 points off the bench — is like a dagger for Australia. At the half, USA leads, 47-30.

Is it me, or does the U.S. just look tougher, bigger, stronger? Those tight Australian uniforms make the Opals look like they’re all arms and legs. The fact that the U.S. goes much deeper is giving them a serious edge; they’re just pushing the Australians around, despite some shoves by Jackson, and coming at them at a much faster pace every time they rush down the court.

10:44 ET Parker goes down hard as she is low-bridged trying to catch an air ball. She stays in, though; probably didn’t want to go back to Tennessee and answer to Pat Summitt.

10:42 ET In a sideline interview, Sager tries to get Hammon to admit that she would rather have played for the U.S. than Russia, but she doesn’t bite. Not like it was her choice, though, since only one of those teams wanted her when she had to decide.

10:37 ET A nice turnaround by Jackson, her first basket, is quickly answered by Leslie down low. Now it’s Jackson and Leslie who are battling inside. The problem for Jackson may be that the U.S. has a lot more fouls to give; she can’t trade punches, so to speak.

10:34 ETJackson (who has not scored) and Tina Thompson shove after a free throw and ref steps in to say cut it out. Nice try. On the next trip, Jackson shoves Thompson to the floor away from the ball to get open. She’s fouled in retaliation, and makes 1 of 2 to get on the board. USA, 36-22 with 4:18 left.

10:31 ET Brutal call there, giving Parker a continuation on a foul at the free-throw line. (Sshe was so far away I thought it was a travel when the whistle blew.) Her free throw makes the lead 32-17. Another hoop and they have now doubled up the Opals, 34-17, with less than six minutes left.

10:29 ET Flash to the USA men’s team in the crowd. They could learn a lot about winning from the likes of Leslie and Candace Parker, who teamed in the frontcourt now. USA, 29-17 with seven minutes left in the half.

10:25 ET It’s not even 10:30, but it looks like Team USA’s depth is deciding this. A 3-point play makes it a 15-2 run, and a 10-point lead for the Americans.

10:22 ET Jackson is sitting (has she or Taylor scored?). NBC says she will have an operation on her foot after the Games and miss the rest of the W.N.B.A. season. USA leads 22-15 after one quarter. (I’m switching to shorthand to type faster.)

10:20 ET Another turnover by Australia, and another foul inside trying to hold back the U.S. Fowles scores easily on the inbounds play.

10:19 Little surge here. Kara Lawson’s pull-up jumper makes it 16-13. Australia scores quickly, but Lawson hustles the ball through the defense for another hoop. Once down by 5, U.S. leads by 3, 18-15, as Australia calls a timeout.

10:16 Augustus and Screen tangle under the hoop. It’s still rough in there. Snell with her second 3; she has 10 of Australia’s 13 points. U.S. answers, though, to make it 13-12.

10:13 Leslie again. She’s keeping the U.S. in this early. A free throw by Australia makes it 10-8, but Tamika Catchings ties it up Four minutes left in the quarter.

10:10 Leslie has foolishly given her previous three golds to Craig Sager. Knowing him, he’ll have them sewn onto a sportcoat as buttons before the half. Aus leads, 9-6, with 5:10 left in first quarter.

10:09 Taurasi picks up her second foul for pushing down a player instead of boxing her out. Dumb foul, way down in the corner and right in front of the referee. that’s two for her, and she’ll have to sit down for a bit.

10:06 Leslie gets the U.S. on the board, but Snell scores again. She has all 7 points. Aus, 7-4.

10:05 Tina Thompson took a shot to the head from Suzy Batkovic. No call. She seems dazed, and mad.

10:04 Belinda Snell hits a 3 for the first points, but Penny Taylor then commits her first foul chasing Diana Taurasi. Could the ankle be a factor? Stay tuned. Three turnovers by Australia in the first four minutes isn’t a good sign either.

10:00 ET In the finest NBC tradition, they scramble to the game just as its under way.

9:57 ET Before the final, we should note that Russia beat China, 94-81, earlier today to win the bronze. Becky Hammon scored 22 points to lead the Russians, then announced she would marry Vladimir Putin. (O.K., that last part isn’t true.) Good for Hammon, though, who took a lot of grief for being “unpatriotic” even though she was never asked to play for the United States.

Here are a few story lines to ponder as we wait for tip-off at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

Pedigree: With all due respect a largely insincere nod to Russia, which lost to both of these teams in the Olympic tournament, these are the two best women’s squads in the world. The United States has won the gold at the last three Olympics, and has beaten the Australians in the past two finals. (Australia won the bronze in Atlanta in 1996.) Lisa Leslie is trying to win her fourth consecutive gold and complete the gaudiest set of coasters you’ve ever seen this side of Michael Phelps’s house.

Familiarity: Seven of the Australian players have played in the W.N.B.A. — where every member of the U.S. team plays — and Lauren Jackson (Seattle) and Penny Taylor (Phoenix) have helped lead their teams to league titles. Jackson and U.S. guard Sue Bird are teammates in Seattle and with Spartak Moscow in the W.N.B.A. off-season. While in Moscow, they also played with U.S. forward Tina Thompson and shared a house with Bird’s former UConn and current Team USA running buddy Diana Taurasi. Taurasi and Taylor helped lead Phoenix to last season’s W.N.B.A. crown. That kind of familiarity has bred friendships but also …

Bad blood: Taylor and some of her Australia teammates accused Thompson of dirty play when Taylor emerged from a pre-Olympic tournament with a Thomspon-induced black eye. The Australians seemed to think the Americans were trying — roughly — to get some revenge for Australia’s victory at the 2006 world championship, when the U.S. settled for the bronze after losing to Russia in the semifinals. Australia’s Laura Summerton warned the other day that any new elbows would be returned.

Injuries: The U.S., with a deeper roster, is in much better shape entering the final. Taylor missed Australia’s semifinal rout of China with an ankle injury, but said she would play today. “Definitely, would not miss it for the world,” she said. Jackson is playing on a painful right foot injury that will require surgery after the Games. If either she or Taylor goes out, it could be trouble for the Opals.