France held on against never-say-die Russia to win the gold medal at the EuroBasket Women on Saturday night in Latvia.

After the disappointment of an eighth-place finish in 2007, Pierre Vincent's team capped a remarkable comeback to the top of Europe with a 57-53 win over Russia in the championship game.

Sandrine Gruda, France's star center and leading scorer in the tournament, had 12 points in a balanced attack as Les Bleues captured the title for only the second time and went undefeated in the

Cathy Melain will go into retirement with a gold medal around her neck.

process.

They led by as many as 19 points in the second half before sweating out a nervous final minute as missed free throws gave the Russians a chance to draw closer.

Valeriy Tikhonenko's team closed the gap to four points in the final minute and had the ball but got no closer.

In the other gold-medal win, France hosted the 2001 event and beat Russia in that final.

"We had nothing to lose going into this game," said Emmeline Ndongue, who had eight of her 11 points in the first half as France got on top of the defending champions for good.

"We had already qualified for the World Championship and there was no pressure on us.

"(France coach) Vincent did everything to make us win. He gave every player a chance to be on the court and that gives you confidence."

France sharpshooter Emmanuelle Hermouet echoed those sentiments.

"The coach never doubted," she said, "and that's very important for the players because it gives you calmness and confidence."

France won a series of close games, including a 51-49 nail-biter against Greece in the Quarter-Finals and a 64-56 win over Belarus in the Semi-Finals.

They had also made a statement to Russia in their Qualifying Round meeting, overcoming them 72-66.

Russia pulled away against Spain to win their Semi-Final 77-61, however, and entered the title

Svetlana Abrosimova earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team but did not manage another gold medal.

showdown with plenty of cause for optimism.

Vincent's team restricted Russia to just 19 first-half points and opened their big advantage in the third quarter with great balance on offense and tenacious defense and rebounding.

With 1:40 remaining, however, cracks began to show in the French armor.

Gruda fouled Maria Stepanova behind the three-point arc with the shot-clock winding down and the big center went to the charity stripe and made all three attempts to close the gap to 55-51.

Becky Hammon and Svetlana Abrosimova had chances to cut the deficit to one but missed three-pointers.

They stayed within striking distance, though, as France missed six free-throws in the final 1:08.

Russia pulled to within 57-53 on a lay-up by Abrosimova with 29 seconds to play.

After Ndongue misfired on two attempts at the stripe, Russia rushed the ball up the floor only for Abrosimova, Stepanova and Marina Karpunina to be off target from long range.

France's Celine Dumerc grabbed the rebound on Karpunina's miss and ran up the floor as the final buzzer sounded.

Dumerc threw the ball up into the air and the French began a party that was sure to last for several hours in Riga.

"You always have a chance in any tournament," Vincent said. "I knew if we played well in Latvia, we'd have an opportunity and we did."

France never looked rattled against the Russians, even in the final minutes when their free-throw stroke deserted them.

Vincent's team seized command with a 12-1 run over the last four and a half minutes of the first half.

Stepanova's jump shot trimmed the French lead to 18-17 but Les Bleues then blew them away.

Ndongue hit a mid-range jumper and Gruda followed with a lay-up after a nifty pass from Cathy Melain, who delayed her retirement from basketball to play in this EuroBasket.

Hermouet capped the spurt with a three-pointer for a 30-19 advantage at the break.

The Russian trees of Stepanova and Irina Osipova had a combined four points and six rebounds at the break, while the French frontcourt of Ndongue and Gruda had contributed a total of 15 points and five boards.

Midway through the third quarter and the French reeled off nine straight points as the lead ballooned to 19.

On top 36-26, Dumerc hit a three, Elodie Godin followed with a three-point play and Pauline Krawczyk drilled a three-ball to make it 45-26.

Russia did well to get back into the game but ultimately were never able to climb out of the giant 19-point hole.

France have returned to the title game of the EuroBasket Women for the first time since their gold-medal winning year of 2001.

They beat Russia in the title game that year, 73-68.

French fans will be hoping that history repeats itself.

In the years that have followed that championship, however, Russia have moved from strength to strength while France have faded - until this year.

The decision by Cathy Melain,  who had 17 points in that 2001 title triumph, to delay her retirement from basketball and to play for France again for the first time since 2005 has been significant.

"Cathy has brought in calmness," France point guard Celine Dumerc said.

"She has confidence, experience and she has helped us a lot.

"She is one of the best players in French history but above all, she is a team player."

France will attempt to beat Russia for the second time in this year's big event and deny Maria Stepanova and Co a third championship since 2003.

Center Sandrine Gruda has been their leading player in the Baltics this summer, averaging 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

It's been the return of Melain that seems to have made the biggest difference, though.

Vincent revealed after the Semi-Final win over Belarus that he had a burning-bush moment.

"I was in my garden cutting the grass when I saw the schedule and I decided to ask Cathy to come back," he said.

"I had to convince Cathy to come back because she thought it was big mistake for her to return. But now she feels stupid because she is in the final game."

Russia have, as is normally the case, only begun to look like championship material since reaching the Quarter-Finals.

In Becky Hammon's first game, the team lost to France but since then they have won in overtime against Latvia (69-64) and in the last four against Spain (77-61).

In their crunch game against previously unbeaten Spain, Russia overcame a sluggish start to lead by two points at half-time and then extended the lead to 48-42 by the end of the third quarter.

Russia had relied on the experience of center Stepanova (a member of  their 2001 team) and all-round versatile play of Svetlana Abrosimova to that stage, but with 10 minutes remaining Hammon took over.

She poured in eight points in a 10-0 run to start to the fourth quarter that allowed Russia to open a 16-point lead and they stayed in command the rest of the way.

Hammon, an American who first played for Russia last summer, ended up scoring a game-high 28 points against Spain. She had 18 of those in the fourth quarter.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the final," said Hammon, who missed the first five games of the EuroBasket Women while on WNBA duty with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

"We learned a lot from our game against France. We come out with more focus. I think it's going to be important to contain Gruda and Dumerc and get a good start."

Last Time Out: France beat Russia in the Qualifying Round of this EuroBasket Women on June 16, 72-66.

Stats: Russia out-rebounded France 40-27 in their game but committed 20 turnovers to just nine for the Blues.

Key Match-Up: Stepanova of Russia v Sandrine Gruda of France. Stepanova had her best game of the EuroBasket Women against Spain with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

Sounding Off: "It's a dream for us, let us dream. We have one more game, we have nothing to lose, we will play with no stress. To remember that basketball is a team sport, the star is the team and when it turns up, you can do a lot of things" - France coach Pierre Vincent