PARIS, FRANCE - Walking to the free throw line with 15.8 seconds left to play, Opals captain Tess Madgen had an opportunity to ice a bronze medal for Australia.
Much like the entire three weeks in France, the Opals were forced to withstand punch after punch from a tough Belgium squad who simply refused to go away. With that in mind, it felt fitting that Madgen would be the one to stroll to the free-throw line, with all the weight of Olympic history on the leader's shoulders.
"Honestly, I was pretty nervous. It was probably the most nervous I've ever been to shoot," an emotional Madgen said postgame.
"As the crowd got louder....I love playing in these moments so that kind of egged me on to make it. All I could think of was shutting the crowd up. I pride myself on being a good leader for this team, I just wanted to ice the game in that moment."
Of course, she knocked them both down. After 12 long years, the Opals were once again heading to the Olympic podium.
"It's hard to win medals. I've been in a lot of Olympics, it's really hard to win a medal. The rest of the world continues to get better and better, but this team is tough," head coach Sandy Brondello said.
Tough is severely underselling a medal run that on more than one occasion appeared to be headed for disappointment.
"I'm really proud of how resilient we were, we faced a lot of adversity including losing one of our best players [Bec Allen] at the start of the tournament. Steph Talbot, hats off to her, she's on one leg.
"Even when we lost, we never lost focus of what our goal was. I'm happy and relieved we go home with a bronze medal."
Celebrating with family and friends at a local Paris pub after the game, a hobbled Talbot walked around in a boot after logging 27 minutes on an injured foot.
Twenty-one-year-old rising star Jade Melbourne threw down hot chips while wearing Olympic ring sunglasses.
Cayla George was coerced into a shoey after arriving to the scene a little later than some of her teammates.
All were getting ready for a big night ahead. They earned it.
"Honestly, this is crazy," George said.
"I'm very overwhelmed with just love and emotion for this group of women. It's been a big journey and all of us have had different journey's to be in this moment right now. It's an incredible feeling to accomplish something that's been on my goal list since I was a kid. An Olympic medal, third Olympics, third time lucky."
George and Marianna Tolo hugged and took photos in the sun, knowing the gritty win could be their last time as teammates in the green and gold.
"Today was definitely emotional for a lot of us and Cayla and I both talked about how we had multiple [emotional] moments today. When it matters our whole team dug deep and we all wanted it really bad, it's been a long time coming and it was so, so sweet to get it done tonight."
"What a finish, you don't get much better than that. Winning a medal, saving the best until last. It's an amazing, phenomenal team and the whole legacy of the Opals beforehand, we all want to do that legacy proud and I think we did a little bit of that tonight."
While the hint of emotion was clearly in the air, it was impossible to ignore the exuberance of the next generation, as Melbourne buzzed around the celebrations with a smile.
Asked to lead the team from the point guard position in her first Olympics, Melbourne grew with each performance, finishing with seven assists and one turnover against Belgium.
"I'm an Olympic medalist now, so it's an unreal feeling. I can't describe it yet," Melbourne said.
"I'm sure it will sink in soon, but I can't wait to go back in [to the arena] and get my bronze medal. It's unreal, it's a dream come true and I couldn't be happier."
With all the hard work in the bank and just one night to celebrate before going their separate ways all across the world, there was little doubt the entire travelling party was ready to finally exhale and toast another historic day for the Opals.
"Probably Jadeo," George said with a laugh on who will lead the party.
"Tolo is pretty rowdy too, Lauren Jackson will lead it all though, we'll probably be forced to do shots, who bloody knows."
For now at least, the raw emotion for Madgen had subsided, as it all began to sink in that she was the captain of a medal winning Olympic Opals team.
"I'm super proud of everyone on this team. Any night, anyone can step up, we've seen that in this tournament, that's what makes us great. We believe in each other whole heartedly."