Bird had one of her best games in a USA uniform. Chris McGrath/Getty

On Sunday, the U.S. team defeated France 68-38 to advance to the finals of the Spanish Invitational Tournament in Salamanca, Spain. Possibly still feeling the effects of adjusting to Europe, the U.S. women got off to a slow start, leading just 15-12 after one quarter. They slammed the door shut on the French in the second quarter, outscoring them 25-7 in the second quarter to take a 21-point lead at the half. From that point on, the U.S. was not threatened. (Check out WNBA.com for highlights.)

Storm guard Sue Bird had one of her best international performances of her career for the U.S. women. Bird scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting and handed out a pair of assists (more impressive than they seem, given the U.S. was awarded just nine assists on 26 baskets). The 11 points tied the most Bird has scored in 22 games with the USA Basketball Senior Women’s Team.

"I'm not sure why we started out slow," Bird said after the game. "We're still getting to know each other. You never want to make excuses, but the more we get to know each other and play together the better it will get. We talked about that in the locker room, especially the turnovers. In the second half we wanted to come out and make a point. We know teams are going to look at these scores. Just like we hear about other teams, like China beat whoever and won, we hear about other scores and people are going to hear about this. We need to start right now going in the right direction going into the Olympics."

This evening, the U.S. will take on host Spain with the tournament title on the line, its last action before traveling to Athens. The U.S. women will practice in Spain Tuesday and twice in Athens later this week.

The Australian "Price Attack" Opals swept three matchups over the weekend to win gold in the inaugural FIBA Women’s Diamond Ball Tournament, held this year in Heraklion, Greece. In two preliminary games, Australia crushed Korea 84-59 and ran by host Greece by a 75-57 score. The final was more challenging, with China leading going into the final period. Led by the Storm’s Lauren Jackson, Australia stormed back down the stretch to pick up a 74-70 victory (highlights) . Jackson finished with game highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds, while former Storm teammate Sandy Brondello and 2003 Storm draft pick Suzy Batkovic added eight points apiece.

During the three Diamond Ball games, Jackson averaged 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game and generally dominated the paint.

Having completed their pre-Olympics schedule, the Opals will train in Heraklion before leaving for Athens on Wednesday.