Team USA is now just two wins away from winning its fifth consecutive gold medal at the FIBA Women’s World Cup after a dominant performance over Hungary on Thursday. The Americans entered the quarterfinal contest as significant favorites and showed exactly why as they dominated every facet of the game en route to a 108-56 victory.
With Team USA flexing its muscle early and jumping out to a large lead from the opening tip, head coach Kara Lawson was able to rotate her entire 12-player roster onto the floor, with each player scoring at least once.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese both began the game on the bench for Team USA, but the two made their presence felt together when their names were called.
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While Reese and Clark may be looked at as rivals to one another by WNBA fans, they were very much on the same page against Hungary, and their chemistry with one another was on full display with a number of different assists and buckets between the pair.
Reese finished the game with nine points and six assists in just under 18 minutes of action, while Clark picked up 10 points and nine assists while seeing 20 minutes of action. Napheesa Collier led the way for the Americans with 19 points.
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Sharing the basketball was the theme of the night for Team USA as its 31 assists set a new all-time record in the FIBA World Cup. A total of five different players picked up at least three assists against Hungary.
The red, white, and blue topped their group in the early stages of the tournament, but did receive a scare from Italy in their final tune-up before elimination play started, staving off the Italians 55-53.
Thursday’s win over Hungary was an entirely different vibe, with the 52-point margin of victory being the largest for the American squad during the tournament thus far.
Team USA will take on the winner of Australia-Spain in its semifinal matchup slated for Saturday. The U.S. occupies the top spot in the FIBA World Rankings while Australia and Spain rank third and sixth, respectively.