The Opals are through to the quarterfinals after producing their best basketball of the tournament and one of their grittiest wins in recent years.
With Belgium defeating Japan by 27 points to advance from the group stage and Nigeria beating Canada last night, Australia simply had to beat France on Monday morning or return home with their tails between their legs and their worst Olympic result.
Spearheaded by captain Tess Madgen, the Opals shone in the pressure cooker that was Lille's Pierre Mauroy Stadium to defeat the host nation, 79-72 and set up a quarterfinal showdown with Serbia in Paris on Wednesday night, 7pm AEST.
It was the Opals night in France, and morning back home, as they needed to prevail by six points or more to avoid a crossover with powerhouse USA.
Shaking off a disastrous opening loss to Nigeria and a so-so win over Canada, the Opals rose to the occasion in front of a hostile crowd, found chemistry, shared the load offensively and channelled the kind of toughness the women who wore the green and gold before them displayed during five consecutive medals from Atlanta to London.
THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING
Like she's done on the international stage many times before, Madgen stood up when her country needed her.
The Opals captain was the first sub coach Sandy Brondello made in the opening quarter and immediately got to work adding her wealth of experience, basketball IQ, and sense of occasion.
Cruelled with injuries over the past two years, Madgen was tough with a capital T, racking up a game-high 18 points, and was four-of-six from deep, with her four triples all landing at critical times of the contest.
Madgen also registered three boards and an assist in a tick over 30 minutes court time, her most for the tournament.
WHAM BAM THANK YOU, SAM
Another experienced head who has risen to the occasion in Lille is US-born, naturalised Australian Sami Whitcomb.
Playing the 1, the 36-year-old guard's performance against the host nation (12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) was her second consecutive game with 10/5/5 putting her in rare air as the only Aussie with multiple such stat lines in an Olympic tournament, joining triple Olympian and former Opals captain and legend Penny Taylor (Rio, 2016).
THE IMPROVEMENTS
With Australia's WNBA contingent joining the fold just a fortnight out from Paris, preparation for the team was limited and interrupted with a host of players sitting out warmup games in Spain, then an 11th-hour hamstring injury to Bec Allen threw another spanner into the works. And it showed against Nigeria and Canada.
Against France, Australia looked like a team establishing and building on its chemistry and combinations which augurs well for the quarterfinal against Serbia and perhaps beyond.
The Opals are better when Alanna Smith (12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal) is on the floor and she was in everything as her country made their run in the third quarter.
Turnovers remain an issue, the Opals had 17, a big improvement on their hideous 26 in the first game, but tellingly Australia didn't give up one in the third term when they made their charge.
Australia won the rebounds by eight and their communication, connection, and improvement on the defensive end was evident. The Opals dished out six more assists than their opposition and had nine players hit the stat sheet, including Amy Atwell in her first Olympic minutes, with four in double figures.