NEW YORK — The United States delivered its strongest performance of the FIBA World Cup with a record-setting 108-56 rout of Hungary in the quarterfinals, posting a tournament-record 108 points and 31 assists to advance to Saturday's semifinal.
Napheesa Collier led all scorers with a personal-best 19 points for the senior national team, followed by 15 from Rhyne Howard and 10 apiece from Kahleah Copper, Caitlin Clark and Jackie Young. Team USA raced to a 36-12 first-quarter lead and led 59-30 at halftime. "We talked about just getting better with each game, and I think we did that today, especially with how we shared the ball," said Howard. "I think if we continue to play like that and continue to keep everybody on the same page, continue to move the ball, it's going to be really hard to stop us."
"Everybody's just all dialed in offensively and defensively," said Angel Reese, who finished with nine points, six rebounds and three assists. "We talked about our keys, what it's going to take to win gold, and I think tonight we did everything that coach asked us to do." The response was emphatic after Italy held the Americans to 55 points in group play. The U.S. shot 58.8 percent from the field, its best mark of the tournament, hit 12 three-pointers to match its tournament high after shooting just 29 percent from deep in the group stage, and outscored Hungary 32-30 in the paint by halftime alone.
"I feel like today was a really good one for us," said Collier. "We worked on some defensive schemes that we wanted to get better at, some offensive stuff that we wanted to clean up, and so I feel like we went out and executed that." The 108 points were the second-most in a World Cup knockout game, trailing only Brazil's 110 against the U.S. in the 1994 semifinals, while the 52-point margin was the second-largest in World Cup quarterfinal history. "I thought it started with our activity on the defensive end," said coach Kara Lawson. "And so our ability to turn them over, get out in transition, get some advantage plays, 2-on-1, 3-on-2, I thought gave us a lot of confidence early."
Players credited the win to improving chemistry after limited preparation time together, having last gathered as a group in April at the Final Four and spending roughly 10 days together after leaving their WNBA teams. "The more we play, the more comfortable we're getting with each other," said Young, the only American to reach double figures in every game this tournament. "And tonight we got the ball popping and we were able to get some easy buckets in transition." "Today felt good," added Collier, "not just because of the score, but in the way that we were scoring as well." The U.S. will face either Spain or Australia in Saturday's semifinal.