BEIJING - Lauren Jackson scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and Australia rallied past Russia 75-55 Sunday to clinch the top seed in its pool.

With the victory, Australia (5-0) avoids having to play the U.S. until a possible showdown in the championship game.

"We all knew how big this game was," Jackson said. "Just to be able to get the top seed and not have to face the Americans till the gold-medal game is huge."

After a first half in which nothing went right and they trailed 37-25, the Aussies took control. They scored the first nine points of the third quarter, including five straight by Suzy Batkovic to close the gap.

"We weren't concerned at the half," said Jackson, who also grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. "We just knew we had to buckle down on defense and get stops to fuel our offense."

After two free throws by Russia, Jackson scored seven of the next 10 points for Australia. The reigning WNBA MVP's 3-pointer with 4:21 left gave Australia a 44-41 advantage — its first since early in the first quarter. By the quarter's end Australia led 55-47, The Aussies outscored Russia 30-10 in the period.

"We really got our running game going in the second half," Australia coach Jan Stirling said.

Becky Hammon, an American turned naturalized Russian, led her team with 20 points and Svetlana Abrosimova added 16 points and nine rebounds. Russia dropped to 4-1.

Belinda Snell finished with 16 points and Batkovic added nine points and 10 rebounds for Australia, which held a 53-36 rebounding edge.

Australia had cruised through its first four games, winning by an average of 21 points. Russia had struggled through its first four, barely winning.

In other games Sunday, South Korea (2-3) held off Latvia (1-4) behind Park Jung Eun's 17 points. She hit five 3-pointers as South Korea advanced to play the U.S. in the quarterfinals. Anete Jekabsone scored 22 points to lead Latvia. Spain (3-2) routed winless Mali 79-47 behind Amaya Valdemoro's 21 points. Djenebou Sissoko led Mali (0-5) with 17 points.

Brazil (1-4) finally got a win beating Belarus (2-3) 68-53. Kelly Santos led the way with 14 points.

Australia put the game away in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-4 run to start the period. Snell's jumper gave Australia a 65-51 lead with 6 minute left. Russia came no closer than 12 the rest of the game.

"Definitely winning the pool and avoiding the U.S. until as late as possible is a huge thing for us," said Australia co-captain Penny Taylor, who finished with 12 points.

The last time Australia and Russia met the 2006 world championship title was at stake in Brazil, and the Aussies won 91-74. Hammon wasn't playing for Russia in that game. In the first half it seemed as if she was going to make the difference for Russia.

Trailing 14-6 early in the first quarter Hammon entered the game and sparked the Russians to a 13-1 run. Russia continued the spurt in the second quarter scoring 16 of the first 20 points to extend their lead to 35-19 on Hammon's fast-break layup. Australia shot 23 percent in the first half.

"It was a tale of two halves," Hammon said. "The first half we came out and did what we wanted offensively and defensively. We always knew that Australia is know as being a bunch of fighters and scrappers who would come back."

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