Team USA’s pursuit of its fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal is still alive after a convincing 108-56 win over Hungary in Thursday morning’s quarterfinals. The Americans will face the winner of the later quarterfinal matchup between Australia and Spain.
Against Hungary, it was Napheesa Collier’s turn to be the breakout American player. She scored 10 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 19 to go with seven rebounds. Coming into the quarterfinal, 19 points was the single-game high for the U.S. in this tournament, set Tuesday by Breanna Stewart against Czechia. She had 8 points, three rebounds and two assists against Hungary.
The tournament has been a mixed bag of performances from the U.S., but Thursday’s quarterfinal was its most commanding overall. The U.S. assisted on 31 of their 40 made shots, the most ever in a quarterfinal game.
Defensively, Team USA forced misses and limited Hungary’s second-chance looks. Hungary took just eight shot attempts in the first half and made 22 in the entire game. Meanwhile, the U.S. connected on 40 of its 68 shot attempts, including going 12-of-23 from 3-point range.
The U.S. had shot just 29 percent from deep coming into the quarterfinal. Thursday, Chelsea Gray was the first to hit from behind the arc more than halfway through the first quarter. Seven of Team USA’s 12 players found the bottom of the net on 3-point attempts. As a team, it shot 52 percent from deep.
“Winning is fun,” said Kahleah Copper, who finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. “There’s nothing like winning, and when you’ve done it at the highest level, you know what it takes. When that ball is moving, we want to get the best possible shot. We want to make sure everyone gets involved.”
In Team USA’s fourth game in Berlin, coach Kara Lawson deployed the same starting five she has gone with all tournament: Gray, Copper, Collier, Stewart and Jackie Young.
At the half, Lawson said she wanted to see the team play with the “appropriate” amount of energy despite the early morning tipoff. The U.S. did just that, forcing 13 turnovers in the first half, outscoring Hungary 32-4 in the paint, shooting 65 percent from the field and assisting on 15 of its 24 made field goals.
By the second quarter, the U.S. looked like a well-oiled machine, operating at a speed and efficiency level Hungary stood no chance of disrupting, allowing Lawson to lean heavily on her young core.
“It started with our activity on the defensive end,” Lawson said. “If I remember correctly, we had 25 points off turnovers at the half. Our ability to turn them over, get out in transition, get some advantage plays gave us a lot of confidence early. … We have so many capable offensive players. All of our players are leading scorers or one of the leading scorers with their WNBA teams. We know offensively they can have big nights. They’re doing a great job of finding the right shot for each other.”
Paige Bueckers was first off the bench, checking in to replace Copper, followed by Caitlin Clark for Gray late in the first quarter. Lawson closed the quarter with Bueckers, Clark, Collier, Rhyne Howard and Angel Reese. On the final play, Clark found Reese in the pick-and-roll, and she laid it in to give the U.S. a 24-point lead heading into the second quarter.
“After the first quarter it was basically the game,” Hungary coach Péter Völgyi said.
Washington Mystics teammates Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen got their first tick in the third quarter. They were late additions to the World Cup roster after Olympic and World Cup gold medalists A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were ruled out because of injuries. Citron was the first of the two off the bench in the second half, but she checked out a minute later after getting hit in the jaw under the basket on defense. She was evaluated in the locker room but returned and started the fourth quarter.
The “young and turnt” crew closed the game for the U.S., as the entire starting unit spent the final 10 minutes on the bench. Howard finished with 15 points, Clark added 10 points and nine assists, and Bueckers, Citron, Iriafen and Reese combined for 22 points.