London, England – Lauren Jackson posted a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Australia to an 83-74 win over Russia in the bronze medal game of the women's Olympic basketball tournament.
Kristi Harrower scored 21 points and Suzy Batkovic added 17 with eight boards for the Australians, who claimed their fifth straight medal and first bronze since 1996. Australia lost to the United States in each of the previous three gold medal games.
Becky Hammon paced Russia with 19 points, while Evgeniya Belyakova and Anna Petrakova supplied 10 points apiece in defeat for the Russians, who won bronze at Beijing and Athens.
Australia beat Russia by four in the preliminary round and it appeared the teams were in for another tight battle. The Australians were up 17-16 after the game's opening 10 minutes, but began to pull away, leading by 10 late in the first half.
A Harrower bucket in the lane made it 56-39 with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter. Russia, though, put together a late run, closing the gap to five at 76-71 on two Petrakova free throws with 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Jackson countered at the end of the floor on a drive to the basket and the 37- year-old Harrower made five free throws down the stretch to secure the medal for Australia.