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MIRRORING the old Beatles song "Getting Better All the Time", Australia tonight stormed into the Paris Olympic semi finals behind outstanding games from rookie Jade Melbourne and an Alanna Smith fulfilling the promise she first showed when breaking into the Opals alongside Ezi Magbegor.

Virtually from go-to-whoa the Opals hammered occasional international nemesis Serbia 85-67, the final margin flattering the Serbs who won the last quarter after Australian coach Sandy Brondello cleared her bench.

Before that ever occurred, the Opals stretched the lead out to as many as 28 points, Smith a monster on the boards with a massive game-high 13 rebounds, blocking two shots, stealing the ball twice, dishing four assists and delivering an international career-high 22 points at 54 per cent.

She was simply irrepressible, active and energetic throughout her match-winning performance.

Melbourne pushing the ball up the floor, dishing five assists with four rebounds, two steals and an international career-best 18 points at 67 percent was simply irresistible.

Brondello boldly stuck with her, resisting the temptation to insert captain Tess Madgen into the starting quintet and Melbourne rewarded her faith in no uncertain terms.

Sami Whitcomb continued to be the sturdy foundation on which the Opals' success has been built, four assists and three steals with her inspiring 15 points.

And Cayla George came off the bench to deliver her best game of this tournament and quite a few others, her 18 points at 50 per cent and including three 3-point back-breakers.

After experiencing their first-ever loss to an African champion when clocked by Nigeria to open the tournament, the Opals started to find some level of cohesion while exposing Canada's flaws.

The win over France in front of a record 27,193 attendance for a women's basketball match in Europe was huge and tonight, Australia's game was blissful, going in some small way toward easing the melancholy of the Boomers' overtime expulsion by Serbia last night.

Unlike the Boomers, who coughed up a 24-point lead to lose in overtime, the Opals continued to build on their lead throughout, only taking their collective foot off the pedal in the game's waning minutes when a semi final berth against the USA (or Nigeria) was fully booked.

Australia led 26-19 at the first break and it could have been more, Amy Atwell giving up six straight points on three Serbian attacks, losing her player each time.

In fact Atwell, picking up the minutes once probably earmarked for Isobel Borlase, was expensive defensively, giving up three points to close the third quarter when she fouled on a long bomb.

Starting the second period with Smith converting a cut into a three-point play, a Magbegor rebound led to Melbourne cruising coast-to-coast for a 31-19 buffer.

Relatively blase officiating allowed considerable Serbian contact leading to Opals turnovers as they climbed back to 23-31 before Melbourne's second 3-point swish of the match returned everyone to the script.

Some of the double-teaming pressure applied by the Whitcomb-Melbourne backcourt was a joy to behold, leading to easy fast break points.

A step back jumper by Melbourne and some byplay with Whitcomb led to uplifting buckets as Serbia started folding along the dotted lines, unable to compete.

Ahead 48-32 at halftime, Melbourne already had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, two steals and four assists while Smith had scored 11 and George nine.

There would be no let up, Australia weathering the predictable attempted Serbian recovery, built on fullcourt pressure and overt physicality the officials appeared content to allow.

Serbia clawed it back to 39-50 before Smith powered to the hoop, Magbegor fed a Steph Talbot back cut and Smith again, this time with a terrific spin move and bonus free throw blew the lead back to 18.

Free throw makes by Smith and Melbourne sandwiched between two Whitcomb threeballs meant the buffer had bulged to 67-39 on a relentless 17-0 outburst.

Serbia dragged Australia's lead back to 72-48 with a quarter of the quarter-final to go but was never going to catch the Aussies.

Kristy Wallace in 2:22 of late-game action had three turnovers, hammered on every one of them, the refs turning a blind eye having put away their whistles.

By then, Brondello also had put her whiteboard away, time to enjoy this growing campaign before turning the focus to the semi finals on Friday.

AUSTRALIA OPALS 85 (Smith 22, Melbourne, George 18, Whitcomb 15; Smith 13 rebs; Melbourne 5 assts) d SERBIA 67 (Nogic 17, Dugalic 14, Raca 10; Raca 7 rebs; Anderson, Nogic 5 assts) in Paris.

WOMEN'S SEMI FINALS

USA v Australia (1.30am Saturday AEST), France v Belgium

WOMEN'S QUARTER-FINALS

Australia 85 d Serbia 67, Belgium 79 d Spain 66, France 84 d Germany 71, USA 88 d Nigeria 74

WOMEN'S INTRAGROUP RESULTS

Group A: Spain 90 d China 89, Serbia 58 d Puerto Rico 55; Spain 63 d Puerto Rico 62, Serbia 81 d China 59; China 80 d Puerto Rico 58, Spain 70 d Serbia 62. Spain 3-0 (+10), Serbia 2-1 (+17), China 1-2 (-1), Puerto Rico 0-3 (-26). Final Order: 1 Spain, 2 Serbia, 3 China, 4 Puerto Rico.

Group B: Nigeria 75 d Australia 62, France 75 d Canada 54; Australia 70 d Canada 65, France 75 d Nigeria 54; Nigeria 79 d Canada 70, Australia 79 d France 72. France 2-1 (+35), Nigeria 2-1 (+1), Australia 2-1 (-1), Canada 0-4 (-35). Tied Teams Table: France 1-1 +14, Australia 1-1 -6, Nigeria 1-1 -8. Final Order: 1 France, 2 Australia, 3 Nigeria, 4 Canada

Group C: Germany 83 d Belgium 69, USA 102 d Japan 76; Germany 75 d Japan 64, USA 87 d Belgium 74; Belgium 85 d Japan 58, USA 87 d Germany 68. USA 3-0 (+58), Germany 2-1 (+6), Belgium 1-2 (0), Japan 0-3 (-64). Final Order: 1 USA, 2 Germany, 3 Belgium, 4 Japan

MEN'S SEMI FINALS

Germany v France, USA v Serbia

MEN'S QUARTER-FINALS

Germany 76 d Greece 63, Serbia 95 d Australia 90 (O/T), France 82 d Canada 73, USA 122 d Brazil 87.

MEN'S INTRAGROUP RESULTS

Group A: Australia 92 d Spain 80, Canada 86 d Greece 79; Spain 84 d Greece 77, Canada 93 d Australia 83; Greece 77 d Australia 71, Canada 88 d Spain 85. Canada 3-0 (+20), Australia 1-2 (-4), Spain 1-2 (-8), Greece 1-2 (-8). Tied Teams Table: Australia 1-1 +6, Greece 1-1 -1, Spain 1-1 -5. Final Order: 1 Canada, 2 Australia, 3 Greece, 4 Spain.

Group B: Germany 97 d Japan 77, France 78 d Brazil 66; France 94 d Japan 90, Germany 86 d Brazil 73; Brazil 102 d Japan 84, Germany 85 d France 71. Germany 3-0 (+47), France 2-1 (+2), Brazil 1-2 (-7), Japan 0-3 (-42). Final Order: 1 Germany, 2 France, 3 Brazil, 4 Japan.

Group C: South Sudan 90 d Puerto Rico 79, USA 110 d Serbia 84; Serbia 107 d Puerto Rico 66, USA 103 d South Sudan 86; USA 104 d Puerto Rico 83; Serbia 96 d South Sudan 85. USA 3-0 (+64), Serbia 2-1 (+26), South Sudan 1-2 (-17), Puerto Rico 0-3 (-73). Final Order: 1 USA, 2 Serbia, 3 South Sudan, 4 Puerto Rico.