LILLE, FRANCE -- Guarded by Ezi Magbegor on the perimeter, French guard Gabby Williams utilized a hesitation dribble to snake her way to the basket for a righty layup that near on lifted the roof off Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
Williams had scored 8 points in the period, closing an 11-point gap earlier in the fourth to just one at 65-64 with 4:40 to play.
Just as they had on repeat all night, it felt like the Opals were in danger of being swallowed up by the weight of a charging French lineup and the 27,000 strong crowd behind them.
Tess Madgen put a stop to that.
Madgen cut backdoor from the left corner, with Magbegor dropping a perfectly timed bounce pass to find the captain for an open layup.
"She was amazing wasn't she...I mean, what a f------...," head coach Sandy Brondello trailed off while searching for the right words.
"That's why she's here. She's tough as nails. To make big plays like that, I think she's one of the best captains we've ever had. Not just culturally, but how she can raise up and bring a team together with that self-belief. She led at both ends."
That bucket was the start of a 14-8 run to close out the game in a win that punched the Opals ticket to Paris.
Madgen has been one of the Opals carrying niggles through the tournament, with her 30 minutes of court time a monumental effort on its own right. When you add 18 points, four of the team's six total three point makes, plus the defensive assignment on French star Marine Johannes, you have all the ingredients for an iconic captain's performance.
"Madgen, whenever we needed a three, she hit one," Jade Melbourne said with a smile.
While Madgen's heroics deserve to be remembered for many years to come, it was an Opals performance that was full of grit, toughness and courage under the brightest of spotlights.
A group stage that started with what the team described as an "embarrassing" performance against Nigeria, ended with a gut check win of the highest order.
"I was anxious during the day watching the scores, I was like fuck, no one's helping us," Brondello said.
"In the end I would rather it that way because it's on us to win. Going into the game I was very calm because I've been in so many games like this before. I felt confident in our scout, I felt confident in how they were all locked in and then it was just going out there and trying to stay steady, one possession at a time. Win the quarters and just find way to wins.
"It's ranked way up there. It may be the very best I've ever been a part of because it means we're staying here it's very meaningful."
Wilting under pressure against Nigeria, the Opals appeared to embrace it against France, a team who many have fancied to go on a run all the way to the gold medal game.
"There's no cooler atmosphere than playing in front of 27,000 people," Melbourne said.
"If we lose, we go home. The fire in the locker room was really cool. To come out and play through every run that came at us. We handled it all and to survive and advance. It was pretty cool."
While France were happy to launch from the perimeter, the Opals were determined to run half-court offence and punish the French in the paint. The pick-and-roll game delivered, off ball cuts proved effective and at times it was just straight bully ball.
All told, the Opals outscored France 44-32 in the paint, in contrast to their opponents, who launched 10 more long range attempts across the 40 minutes.
"It's just finding ways, who can we attack, who can we exploit, trying to go at certain players," Brondello said.
"Then they started switching so we just had to play with a little bit of poise. I don't care, as long as we win. I love threes but are the right people taking them and shooting with confidence, we have to have good balance."
More than anything, the Opals postgame reaction felt like it came from a position of assurance rather than relief. Three days earlier after an important but unconvincing win over Canada, the same could not be said.
"We can't relax. We've ticked one goal to make it to the quarter finals, to the last eight," Brondello said.