The Australian Opals crashed to their first defeat in the Olympic preliminary rounds since 1996 when they lost to France 74-70 in London on Monday.

And no one rode the wave of emotions like Snell, who almost single-handedly saved the game for the Opals with a shot that will go down in Opals folklore.

Usually, it is Lauren Jackson - the Opals' Australian flag-bearing, ice-in-her veins WNBA superstar - who stands tall to nail the match-winning plays.

But with the Opals captain fouled out of the match, it was left to Snell - who, with seconds remaining, had just three points to her name for the game - to come up with something special.

What followed was a "crazy rollercoaster" of emotions - desperation, stunned elation ... and then devastation.

With 3.9 seconds remaining in the match and the Opals trailing by three points, the Opals were given a last-second reprieve when France missed a free-throw shot.

Abby Bishop grabbed the rebound, Snell screamed for the ball. One second remaining, and Snell found herself crowded by two defenders. The 31-year-old was left with no choice but to launch a "Hail Mary" shot from two metres inside her own half in a bid to snatch an unlikely tie and force the match into overtime.

She leapt into the air and launched the ball over the flailing arms of two French players. The buzzer sounded as the ball flew through the air. The ball smashed into the glass, dropped through the basket ... and the Opals erupted in celebration as a deafening noise reverberated around the Basketball Arena.

"It was about time I made a shot, actually," Snell said after the game. "It's a bit of a rollercoaster ... maybe I've made [that shot] when I was younger in the under-12s. I always practise those shots just mucking around, but never in such a big game like this.

"It was such a huge high with the crowd and the emotion, everyone jumping on top of me and celebrating. But unfortunately we couldn't finish it off."

Jackson might have been the only one who knew it was going in, revealing after the match that Snell always wins the half-court shot at training sessions.

"I've played with Snelly for a long time and to be honest, she always wins the half-court shot — so when she launched it, I knew there was a possibility it would go in. It was huge," Jackson said. "It was annoying, frustrating [not being out there], but there's nothing you can do about it."

Snell's shot - which some commentators joked was "from the car park" - lifted the Opals and stunned the French, who seemed to have the game in the bag.

In the dying seconds of overtime, the Opals needed another saviour after France stole the lead. Fittingly, Snell again stepped up, determined to snatch another moment of glory - but this time her shot was off the mark, and the excitement of a half-court shot was replaced with the hollow feeling of defeat.

French coach Pierre Vincent, who coached Snell at Bourges Basket in the Euroleague in 2006-07, said later he thought his former student had come back to haunt him.

French forward Sandrine Gruda was simply speechless. "When she did it I was like, 'Wow, that is incredible'. Nobody expected it, it was a nice shot," Gruda said.

The Opals must now regroup for their next game against Brazil, now a must-win affair if they are to stay in the hunt for a gold medal.