BEIJING (Olympics) – The United States broke open a close game in the second quarter and ended up hammering Korea 104-60 to stay on track for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Sylvia Fowles scored 12 of her game-high 26 points in the first half for the Americans, who will now meet the winner of Russia’s quarter-final with Spain in the last four.

Korea only trailed 25-21 at the end of the first quarter but then went off the rails over the next five minutes.

Kara Lawson started a 16-4 run for the Americans with a three-ball that left the USA with a 41-25 advantage midway through the second quarter and they extended the lead to 51-30 by half-time.

Anne Donovan’s team ended any hopes of a Korea comeback with an 11-4 surge to start the second half.

"We are very happy that we put on a good game,” Donovan said. “We did a great job defensively. Our depth is the key to our success. We are excited about reaching the semi-finals.”

The US out-rebounded Korea 24-13 in the first half and 50-24 in the game.

Fowles had 14 of those rebounds, including eight in the first half, for the gold medal favourites.

"I think I was in a good mood and I was feeling very well,” said Fowles. “Once I got started, I didn't see it stopping.

"It's a gold medal round, you want to go out there and give it your best, I wanted to make a statement and come out with a bang.”

Korea star Choi Younah, meanwhile, appeared to suffer a hip injury during the game and was taken to hospital.

"Her waist is a little bit injured,” Korea coach Jung Duk Hwa said.

“We are looking to this situation. I didn't see how she got injured."

As for his team’s efforts, he said: "We were fully prepared for this game.

“In terms of physical conditioning, size, they are superior to us. We learned a lot from our opponents."

Kim Kweryong, who finished with a game-high 14 points, said: "Today is the final game for us and we are sad. We tried our best and we learned a lot.

“We cannot be disappointed with our performance. We were not intimated by the USA."