France staged a daring comeback to rally from 15 points down to secure a 68-58 a place in the gold medal match for the first time since 2010.

While Lily Scanlon, Shyla Heal, and Isabel Palmer all finished in double figures, a high turnover count and strong French defence, put the Australians on the back foot.

Both sides struggled to gain momentum on offence after five turnovers broke up anything either side tried to generate and by the end of the first quarter the Sapphires had jumped out to a 19-11 lead.

Scanlon opened the scoring in the second quarter by burying a three from the corner and Australia's dominance continued in shooting despite being troubled by turnovers. A timeout was called midway through the second quarter which spurred on a brilliant period from the French to cut the led of the Sapphires to just eight.

However, Australia's shooting helped them out of the situation to put them up 36-21 despite 13 turnovers at halftime.

Momentum quickly swung against the Aussies in the second half as France quickly cut the lead to five, forcing a timeout to be called for the Sapphires midway through the third quarter. The timeout failed to stop the French momentum and Australia's lead was gone on the back of a 22-5 run.

It enabled the French to take a 43-41 lead into the final term. The Sapphires opened up the final term with determination and stepped up their defensive intensity but France continued to pressure them to keep a three point lead.

Australia tried one last time to stage a comeback after a timeout following a shot clock violation. They were down 53-46 with four minutes to play and there was an immediate impact as they closed the margin but turnovers would haunt them once again.

Another timeout was called by coach Shannon Seebohm to give the Sapphires some intensity back into their play and the French responded, desperate not to give up their chances of a final.

Australia will now face Hungary in the bronze medal match at 1:00am Monday morning.