A historic blowout in Berlin
Team USA stormed into the semifinals of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup with a 108-56 demolition of Hungary in Thursday's quarterfinal. The 108 points were the most ever scored in a World Cup quarterfinal and tied for the second-most in any knockout-round game. The Americans also dished out 31 assists, a quarterfinal record. They have now won 34 consecutive World Cup games and will face the winner of Spain versus Australia in Saturday's semifinal.[S1]
After a major scare against Italy in their second game, Team USA has been utterly dominant, and the Hungary performance was as good as it gets. They shot 60% from the field, made 12 3-pointers, outscored Hungary 52-16 in the paint, and were so locked in defensively that Hungary committed more turnovers (27) than made shots (22).[S1]
Collier finds her groove
Napheesa Collier, who only returned from offseason surgery on both ankles in late July, got off to a slow start in Berlin and managed just 10 points on 13 shots in the first two games against China and Italy. But in the group stage finale against Czechia, she found a rhythm and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists.[S1]
Against Hungary, she picked up right where she left off. Her bucket just under six minutes into the game put Team USA up 20-9 and established a double-digit lead that would only grow. In the first quarter alone, Collier registered 10 points, three rebounds and a block. She only ended up playing 15 minutes due to the nature of the game, but still finished with 19 points, six rebounds and a block, and Team USA was +35 with her on the floor. Her 19 points were tied with Breanna Stewart's 19 against Czechia for the most in a game by an American at this tournament.[S1]
Defense wins gold medals
Kara Lawson is a defensive-minded coach, and her team gave her a performance to be proud of on that end of the floor. Hungary, led by their pair of 6-foot-4 bigs, Dorka Juhász and Virag Takacs-Kiss, prefers to operate inside-out, but Team USA would not let that happen. The likes of Collier, Breanna Stewart, Aliyah Boston and Angel Reese did a terrific job holding their own in those matchups. Their athleticism and aggression forced Juhász and Takacs-Kiss out to the perimeter where they're less comfortable, and that duo combined for four points on 2 of 22 shooting. As a team, Hungary scored a tournament-low 16 points in the paint.[S1]
The Americans also did a terrific job applying pressure to the turnover-prone Hungarians, who entered the game averaging a tournament-worst 21.5 turnovers. Nine different American players had a steal as Team USA forced a whopping 27 turnovers, which they turned into 44 points. And they did so without fouling. Team USA committed just nine fouls and Hungary was held to three free throw attempts.[S1]
Record-setting offensive performance
Collier led the way with 19 points, but this was a true team effort offensively from Team USA. Five players -- Collier (19), Rhyne Howard (15), Caitlin Clark (10), Copper (10) and Jackie Young (10) -- scored in double figures, nine players had at least seven points and all 12 players on the roster got on the scoresheet as the Americans set a number of offensive records.[S1]
In its best showing thus far in Berlin, Team USA shot 59% from the field, including 12 of 23 (52%) from 3-point range, and assisted on 31 of 40 made field goals. Here's a look at some of the records they set: Most points in a World Cup quarterfinal game; Second-most points in a World Cup knockout round game; Tied most 3s by USA in a World Cup game. Dating back to 1986, Team USA has six of the seven highest-scoring games in the knockout stage of the World Cup.[S1]
