BERLIN — The United States National Team had everything to gain against Czechia in the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Coming off an underwhelming performance against Italy on Sunday night, the Americans had much to prove. Although they had already advanced to the quarterfinal round with the victory Sunday night, there was nothing lackadaisical about their 105-64 win in the final group phase game.
They played like there was no tomorrow. No backup plan.
When the sudden American vulnerability required a statement, the U.S. turned to two of its most reliable veterans. Breanna Stewart scored 19 points with seven rebounds and six assists in just 16:47. Napheesa Collier scored 12 points with six rebounds and two assists in 15:48. They were among the contributors to create a lead of as much as 43 points.
“Stew and Phee are two of the best players in the world,” U.S. coach Kara Lawson said, “and so it’s not my job to convince them that they’re good. It’s to remind them, you know, of who they are and what they bring to the team. And they both bring so much to our team. They’re both complete players…”
“I want to see them every night in terms of their confidence and their aggression,” Lawson went on. “They are capable of doing that, and I thought that their aggression gave the rest of the team confidence in how we played.”
The U.S. will play in a quarterfinal on Thursday against the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal qualification game between Hungary and Japan. The Americans extended their tournament winning streak to 33 games, second only to the 56-game streak by the Soviet Union from 1959 to 1986.
Stewart’s statement was emphatic from the start. After the tipoff, she received a pass from Collier and, with little hesitation, drained a 3-pointer to put the first points on the board for the U.S. and foreshadow what was to follow.
Just the day before, Stewart struggled from the field on a 1-for-11 night, her first points arriving with just 3:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. This was a different story, as Stewart finished the first half leading the U.S. with 13 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
“Well, I knew the ball had to go in the basket for me. It had to go in,” said Stewart. “I was trying to get out early, rebound and run and put pressure on the rim. Overall, as a team we did a really good job of seeing the lanes that we weren’t running last night and running them today.”
Stewart was part of a 23rd consecutive U.S. victory, which tied Skaidrite Smildzina of the Soviet Union from 1959 to 1967. The only player to become part of more consecutive victories is Uljana Semjonova of the Soviet Union from 1971 to 1983.
Although this is an individual feat, she kept the focus off of herself.
“It is an honor for me to play USA Basketball, and to be able to come here for my fourth World Cup and take full advantage of it, there is nothing I’d rather do,” Stewart said. “But there are a lot of people that played before USA Basketball, and I would not be what I am without them.”
Stewart’s dominant performance created ripple effects through her teammates; it was contagious, as each player rose to the occasion that Stewart had presented.
With 23 seconds left in the half, Stewart passed just below the arc to Paige Bueckers, who drained a field goal to bring the U.S. total to 57 points, already surpassing their 55-point total in the matchup against Italy.
“I think we took accountability for what happened yesterday,” Stewart said. “We wanted to make sure everyone knew that today was a new day and there is an opportunity to really impact the game in a number of ways.”
Coming out of the locker room, Stewart set the tone again, putting the first points of the second half on the board for the U.S. With every move Czechia made, the U.S. had a response, always keeping them at arm’s length. Guard Eliska Joklova led Czechia with 19 points. The U.S. exhibited a strong defensive performance, holding Czechia to 22-for-67 shooting, 3 for 30 from beyond the arc.
The dominant veteran performance in the first half allowed Lawson to utilize her younger talent and experiment with different schemes. Forward Kiki Iriafen capitalized on that opportunity, inevitably leading the U.S. in rebounds with 11. Angel Reese contributed 13 points with six rebounds and three steals. Caitlin Clark added nine points and seven assists.
Clark has averaged 6.3 assists in the three games, a pace that could surpass Dawn Staley’s team-record 5.8-assist average in 1998.
Stewart and Collier had created a path for their younger teammates to follow, and the results were dramatic. Against Italy, the bench points were 24-24. This night, the signature U.S. advantage was 55-13.
“For Stewie and me,” Collier said, “we are going to be facilitators as well. So just knowing that we are two of the older people on the team, we have a lot of younger people in this group. So we have to be able to set the tone and set an example. So that is the mindset we had coming into the game today.”
Improvement seems to be at the top of Lawson’s game plan. Every day, every practice, and every game marks an opportunity for this group to become great and against Czechia marked a pivotal step. The essence of improvement is that there is no end point, and today the U.S. took one extra step toward gold.
“I think we are improving every day,” said Lawson. “I feel a lot of confidence around our group, and every day we are together, our chemistry is building, we are getting an understanding of how to play off each other, even how to communicate…We are living in a bubble, in a sense, in a tournament like this, but our bubble is very enjoyable.”
Jenna Black is a graduate student at IU Indianapolis and part of the Sports Capital Journalism Program. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Breanna Stewart leads dominant USA response in FIBA World Cup win; Caitlin Clark eyes record
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