Breanna Stewart scored 16 points and the US women’s basketball team advanced to their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal game with a 85-64 victory over Australia on Friday.

The Americans, who extended their Olympic winning streak to 60 consecutive games, will face France on Sunday. The US are trying to become the first team to win eight consecutive gold medals, breaking the tie with the American men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.

“The streak is crazy,” Stewart said after the game. “I mean, they just told me when I was doing TV that it was, like, before I was born that it kind of started, which is wild.”

A win on Sunday would give Diana Taurasi a record six gold medals. A game after she was held out of the starting lineup for the first time since the 2004 Olympics, the Americans’ most decorated Olympic basketball player didn’t enter the game until two minutes were left in the third quarter.

But Taurasi was not needed. The US jumped out to an early lead over Australia, but only held a slender 20-16 after the first quarter. It was in the second quarter that the Americans put the game away, starting the period with a 12-0 run. The US led 45-27 at the half.

Things didn’t get any better for the Australians in the second half as they never challenged the Americans. Jackie Young added 14 points, Kahleah Copper 11 and A’ja WIlson 10 for the Americans. Isobel Borlase led Australia with 11, and Tess Madgen and Ezi Magbegor each had 10.

The US were able to take control of the game in the first half allowing coach Cheryl Reeve the opportunity to play rotate her squad and ensure everyone will be fresh and mentally set for the gold medal game.

“The group that’s going to be out there is going to be a little more ready and rested to be able to give everything they had,” Reeve said.

While the American team features 12 WNBA All-Stars who have won multiple MVPs, the Australia roster is full of complimentary players in the league. The Opals just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to compete with the American juggernaut.

In the end, the US once again denied the Australians a chance at a gold medal in what’s been a one-sided rivalry between the teams. The Opals have never beaten the US in Olympic competition, losing in the gold medal game in 2000, ’04 and ’08. The Australians also lost to the US in the semi-finals of the 1996 and 2012 Olympics.

“America, they’re the goats for a reason, you know?” said Australian Lauren Jackson, who has played in five of those losses. “They are full of superstars and I mean you look at the name on every single jersey out there and they are the best players in the world for a reason. They’re incredible.”

Jackson played five minutes after sitting out the last two games and didn’t score. The 43-year-old Jackson hasn’t contributed much in this Olympics, but the fact she’s still playing is a near miracle itself after she retired due to injuries in 2016.

Jackson made a return for the Opals at the 2022 World Cup, helping the team earn bronze there. Now she will hope that the team can get one more win Sunday to medal – something the Australians have done in each of the four other Olympics Jackson has competed in.