Olympics-Basketball-Spain beat Serbia to reach women's final

(Adds quotes) By Steve Keating RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Spain eased past Serbia 68-54 on Thursday to reach the Olympic women's basketball gold medal final for the first time, where a possible showdown with the all-conquering United States awaits. Spain, who have never won a medal in women's basketball, will face the winner of France and the unbeaten United States, who are bidding for their sixth straight gold. "Everyone knows we will play against the United States," Spain forward Laura Nicholls told reporters. "It is impossible to beat them. It will be very, very complicated. "But this is a final you have to see, you have play and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. I'm sorry, but you have to be realistic. "The United States is a dream team and it is going to be very difficult but we will fight and, above all, enjoy ourselves." While it was no surprise to see the United States in the semi-finals, Spain and Serbia were lucky to reach the last four. Serbia (2-3), the only team with a losing record to make it out of group play, shocked second-ranked Australia 73-71 while Spain needed a last-gasp buzzer beater from Anna Cruz to get past Turkey 64-62. Spain, who had edged Serbia 65-59 in their opening group game, dominated from the start, storming to 20-9 in the opening quarter and never trailed the rest of the way. Alba Torrens and Astou Ndour led Spain with 14 points apiece while Nicholls chipped in with 13. "I cannot believe we are in the final," said Spain's Laura Quevedo. "I cannot explain how we won with such a big margin after suffering so much in quarter-finals. "This is history for us. We had never made it past the quarter-finals and now we are in the final." (Additional reporting Mary Milliken; Editing by Nina Chestney and Frank Pingue)