RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Spain will play in their first Gold Medal Game in the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament after beating Serbia, 68-54, in Thursday's first Semi-Final at Carioca Arena 1.

Spain will face the winners of the second Semi-Final between the five-time defending champions USA and 2012 silver medalists France.

Serbia, coming off the tournament's biggest upset as they beat Australia 73-71 in Tuesday's Quarter-Finals, could not exact a measure of revenge on the Spaniards, who had defeated them 65-59 in Group B play during the Group Phase.

Spain raced out to a 20-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. The European champions cut the deficit to trail by just five, 33-28, at the break.

Marina Maljkovic's charges struggled offensively to start the second half, going scoreless for the first 6:05 of the third period. All the while Spain kept adding to their lead, which grew to 53-38 heading into the final frame, and they finished comfortable winners.

Turning Point: Serbia's inability to score a single point in the first 6:05 of the third quarter allowed Spain to go on a 8-0 run and stretch their lead to 41-28. Serbia did not get within 10 points or less the rest of the way. 

Stats Don't Lie: Quite simply, the game came down to who made shots and who got to the free-throw line the most. Spain shot 19-of-38 (50 percent) from two-point range, considerably better than Serbia's 19-of-55 performance. The Spaniards got to the foul line 29 times and made 21 of those (72 percent), while the Serbs were 10-of-12 (83 percent). 

Hero: Laura Nicholls made her presence felt in the paint and came away with her second consecutive double-double, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds to which she added 3 blocks and 2 assists.

The Bottom Line: Spain now wait to find out who of the USA or France they will face in Friday's Gold Medal Game. Prior to the game against Serbia, they were already assured of achieving their best-ever finish at an Olympics. Now they know they will leave Rio with a medal.

Click here for the latest reaction.

FIBA