History made in Olympic women's basketball final

US sets out to defend title

(Pool/Getty Images)

Team USA won its sixth straight Olympic gold in women's basketball, beating Spain by a score of 101-72 in Saturday afternoon's gold medal game.

The win was the 49th straight for the U.S. women's basketball team, continuing a streak started in 1996. The U.S. came into the final winning their seven games in Rio up until that point by an average of nearly 40 points while putting up more than 102 points per contest.

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The two teams had met earlier in Rio, with the Americans dominating Spain in the preliminary round in a 40-point win. The U.S. also beat Spain in 2014  to claim the world championship title.

Spain's silver medal is its first-ever Olympic medal in women's basketball.

The U.S. has won all but three Olympic titles in women's basketball since it was added in 1976. The last time the U.S. failed to win gold came while trying for a third-straight title at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when they lost in the semifinals to the Unified Team from the former Soviet Union and settled for bronze.

Earlier Saturday, Serbia beat France 70-63 in the bronze medal game