Team USA moves on to World Cup semifinals after blowout win over Hungary
· Yahoo Sports
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. It will face the winner of the later quarterfinal matchup between Australia and Spain.
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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 on 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 their 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 22 in the entire game. Meanwhile, the U.S. connected on 40 of their 68 shot attempts, and went 12 of 23 from 3-point range.
The U.S. had shot just 29 percent from deep coming into the quarterfinal. On Thursday, 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.
In Team USA’s fourth game in Berlin, coach Kara Lawson deployed the same starting five she has gone to all tournament: Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Collier and Stewart.
Lawson said at the half, 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 their 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, giving Lawson an opportunity to lean heavily on her young core.
Paige Bueckers was first off the bench, checking in to replace Kahleah Copper followed by Caitlin Clark for Gray late in the first quarter. Lawson closed the quarter with Bueckers, Clark, Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese and Collier. On the final play, Clark found Reese in the pick and roll who laid it in to give the U.S. a 24-point lead heading into the second quarter.
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 due to 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.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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