SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- The U.S. women's basketball team is in the gold medal game, and it might have gotten a free point from the scorer's table to get there.

The Americans were credited for one extra point at the end of the first period of their 75-69 overtime win over Brazil on Friday night. Brazil's coaches approached the scoring table after the period but were satisfied with the explanation.

"There was a mistake that was corrected," Brazil coach Antonio Carlos Barbosa said. "But we were keeping our own score and knew the U.S. team had one more point (than the scoreboard showed).

"Everything is fine. We are not filing any protest"

Play-by-play sheets compiled by USA Basketball and media members, however, showed the Americans had only 14 points after the first quarter, not 15, as the official stats indicate.

Official scorers refused to reveal their play-by-play when the problem was pointed out to them.

"As far as I'm aware, the players and coaches are not aware of any discrepancy," USA Basketball executive director Jim Tooley said. "Brazil was challenged at the time. My understanding of the rules is the score is a correctable error that can be changed at the time of the occurrence.

"You play the game based on the score, and that score stood for three-plus quarters. Does it affect the outcome of the game? I don't believe so. If it happens in the last few minutes of the game, perhaps so."

Stanford's Nicole Powell scored seven of her 17 points in overtime and grabbed seven rebounds as the Americans overcame a big height disadvantage to beat Brazil and do something the male U.S. collegians couldn't: bring home a medal. The American men lost to Puerto Rico 76-70 Wednesday night in the bronze-medal game.

The U.S. women will get that rematch with Cuba they have been hoping for, too.

Cuba defeated Canada 58-49 in the late game and will face the United States for the championship Saturday.

The U.S. team lost to Cuba 84-62 to open play here last Saturday, giving the Americans four straight defeats against the Cubans in an 11-day span. The Cubans swept three exhibition games in July in Havana.

"It's just going to be a battle of will," Powell said.

When the final buzzer sounded Friday, the U.S. bench players rushed to the court and the Americans gathered in a large embrace. When asked about achieving more than the men, U.S. coach Debbie Ryan stressed that the two teams are separate.

"I think this team has its own will to win," Ryan said. "I don't think they need outside influences. The men's performance belongs to them, and the women's performance belongs to them."

The U.S. women beat Brazil to loose balls in the extra period and picked up their defense, including one series when Brazil saw the shot clock expire.

Texas star Jamie Carey added 18 points and seven assists for the United States. Neither she nor Powell knew about the scoring mixup.

With the Americans trailing 68-64, Powell scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer for a 69-68 lead in OT.

"My team needed some energy, and I was able to give it to them," said Powell, who started the first game against Cuba but has come off the bench since.

Brazil capitalized on the Americans' sloppy ballhandling and rebounding to rally to 60-59 with 2:22 left in regulation on two free throws by Adriana Pinto. Carey swished a jumper at the other end, but Brazil's Vivian Lopes hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:07 left to tie the game at 62.

The Americans inbounded with 36.8 seconds left, but two Brazilians tied up Carey for a jump ball, and the possession went to Brazil. Brazil then lost control in the key, and the United States got the ball back with 14.7 left. Loree Moore's shot in the final seconds in traffic was short.

The Americans beat Brazil in pool play 77-64 Monday, the Brazilians' only previous loss in the tournament. Determined to change the outcome, Brazil played a stingy man-to-man defense. The Americans countered with ball movement and a more aggressive inside game against a Brazilian frontcourt that features 6-foot-3 stars Alessandra Oliveira and Cintia Dos Santos.

They scored 12 points apiece. Micaela Jacintho led Brazil with 15.

U.S. players Laurie Koehn of Kansas State and Carey combined have broken the U.S. team tournament record for 3-pointers made with 29. The previous best was 14 at the Pan Ams in Winnipeg in 1999.

The United States made all 18 of its free throws.