Team USA is used to being on top.
So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that head coach Kara Lawson and Kahleah Copper appeared blissfully unaware Thursday morning that the Americans dropped to second behind France in FIBA’s official power rankings earlier this week.
While the U.S. stated they were oblivious to the fact that some observers no longer considered them the favorites to win this year’s FIBA Women’s World Cup title, the Americans reminded the world they’re a force to be reckoned with in their 108-56 quarterfinals win against Hungary.
The U.S., in pursuit of its fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal, bullied Hungary from the jump en route to delivering what Lawson said was “one of our most complete performances of the tournament.”
Every American scored, with Napheesa Collier leading the way with her tournament-high 19 points.
The U.S. shot 58.8 percent from the field and had 31 assists on 40 made field goals. Caitlin Clark accounted for a team-high nine assists.
The game was over before the first quarter ended.
The Americans extinguished any hope that the Hungarians could stick around and make this game somewhat interesting, with the U.S. outscoring its opponent 36-12 in the opening 10 minutes.
“We couldn’t bring the energy today to the court that would be necessary to play a close game against the U.S.,” Hungary coach Péter Völgyi said through a translator. “Missed a lot of open shots, and on the other end, we allowed to get the U.S. some easy baskets. So basically, after the first quarter, it was game.”
The U.S. were in complete control for all of Thursday, with their suffocating defense jumpstarting the offense.
Team USA scored an eye-popping 44 points off of Hungary’s 27 turnovers. They did a bulk of the damage inside, scoring 52 points in the paint.
“Defensively, we were active, forced a lot of turnovers,” Lawson said in the postgame press conference. “Was really pleased by that. And then offensively, we as coaches love when they share the ball and they did at just a high level… Really unselfish for our group and another balanced attack.”
Thursday’s dominant outcome marked not only Team USA’s highest-scoring game of the tournament but also its largest margin of victory (52 points).
The U.S., which will play the winner of Spain-Australia in the semifinals Saturday for a spot in the gold medal game, has been a juggernaut in the women’s basketball realm for decades. They haven’t suffered a loss in any major tournament since the 2006 World Cup.
But the French have emerged as the biggest threat in recent memory to Team USA’s unbeaten reign.
Headlined by WNBA players Gabby Williams, Dominique Malonga, Janelle Salaun and Marine Johannès, the French came within a point of forcing overtime in the 2024 Olympic gold medal game.
The French dominated group play, winning by an average of 43 points in the preliminary round.
Their success earned them the top spot on FIBA’s power rankings released Tuesday.
Asked whether that slight demotion played any part in fueling the Americans’ Thursday, they appeared confused.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sorry,” Lawson said.
Lawson said she welcomes the outside debate but it doesn’t infiltrate the team’s bubble.
“We try to focus our energies on the things that can change results and that can help us be prepared,” Lawson said. “And so that’s our job the next 48 hours is to be prepared for our semifinal and hopefully we can put together a great performance.
“As far as France, what a wonderful team, and they’ve had an outstanding World Cup so far, so they should have a lot of people thinking they can do well.”
