It wasn’t pretty, but Team USA survived its semifinal scare and saved its historic streak.
The United States defeated Spain, 76-66, Saturday in the World Cup semifinals in Berlin. The victory advances the Americans to their fifth consecutive World Cup final, where they’ll face France and former UConn women’s basketball star Gabby Williams for the gold.
France defeated Germany, 86-64, in their semifinal matchup and will make their first-ever appearance in the World Cup final. Sunday’s gold-medal game is a rematch of the 2024 Olympic Final between the two countries (Team USA won 67-66).
Saturday’s victory gave Team USA, the four-time reigning World Cup champs, 35 consecutive victories in the World Cup.
Fellow former Husky Breanna Stewart was the guiding ship against the Spaniards. Not only did the New York Liberty star keep the energy up and provide vital sparks on both ends, but she also moved up on the World Cup record list.
Stewart led the charge the whole 40 minutes and finished with a team-high 16 points with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. She’s now No. 6 all-time on Team USA’s World Cup career scoring list with 266, passing Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes (252) and just two points away from passing Cheryl Miller for No. 5.
Kahleah Copper (13) and Jackie Young (12) also finished in double-digit scoring. Spain was led by Maria Conde and Iyana Martin, each with 17 points.
Heading into Saturday’s semifinals, Team USA hadn’t trailed by more than three points throughout its first four World Cup games. Not only did Spain snap that streak, but the Spaniards startled the Americans with an overpowering start to Saturday’s semifinals.
The U.S. couldn’t buy a bucket and failed to set up its defense in time to slow down Spain. The Spaniards led 9-1 about two-and-a-half minutes in as the U.S. started the game 2-of-7 from the floor.
It wasn’t until the final minutes of the first quarter that Team USA’s defense caught a break and kickstarted its offense. Paige Bueckers’ (six points, three rebounds, one steal) steal-and-score with 1:51 left in the frame gave the U.S. its first lead of the game. Team USA rode out the momentum, stringing together a 14-2 run before Spain’s physical defense stopped its flow.
Spain sent double, triple teams to Team USA’s star post players. The aggressive defense resulted in the Americans attempting 27 free throws in the first half. Team USA scored 19 of its 39 first-half points from the charity stripe. On the other end, Spain only attempted four free throws in the first half and used a 6-2 run in the first half’s final two minutes to make it a one-possession game at intermission.
The Spaniards pushed back even harder after the break. Spain drilled in three triples in the first two minutes of the third quarter to force an early tie and get the lead at the 7:30 mark. Napheesa Collier (seven points, three rebounds) sparked a brief 7-0 run to build back Team USA’s cushion, but it wasn’t enough as Spain prevented the U.S. from leading by more than six.
Spain ended the third on a 7-0 run to tie the game for a fourth time.
The Americans’ defense finally clicked into place in the fourth quarter as Stewart did a little bit of everything. She hustled down fast to block Spain on one end before drawing a shooting foul at the other. The 32-year-old helped Team USA string together a 12-2 run to get its first 10-point lead of the game with about five minutes remaining.
Team USA finished just 17% from deep and had more turnovers (15) than assists (13).
This article originally published at Team USA defeats Spain in World Cup semifinals, advances to gold-medal game vs. France.
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