Caitlin Clark launches from deep as Angel Reese refuses to back down from 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu in Team USA’s FIBA World Cup rout of China
Clark stretched the court, Reese accepted an almost impossible defensive assignment and Paige Bueckers helped turn familiar WNBA opponents into a dominant national team
C aitlin Clark was already far enough behind the three-point line to make most players reconsider the shot. She never hesitated. The ball left her hands and dropped through the basket, delivering another reminder that the normal boundaries of the court do not always apply to her.
Angel Reese’s defining moment came at the opposite end. She lowered her body, raised her arms and tried to keep China’s 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu away from the basket. Reese moved her feet and attempted to absorb the contact without reaching, but the physical battle eventually ended with a foul.
One play showed range. The other showed refusal. Together, they captured how Team USA’s new generation began the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup with a 94-61 victory over China in Berlin.
The United States led 49-29 at halftime and kept increasing the margin until the opening game became a 33-point rout. Clark, Paige Bueckers and Rhyne Howard shared the team lead with 14 points apiece, giving the Americans three different answers whenever China attempted to slow them down.
Clark did not start, a decision that immediately generated questions about head coach Kara Lawson’s rotation . By the final buzzer, however, she had played a game-high 25 minutes and finished with 14 points, 11 assists and no turnovers.
The long three created the highlight, but Clark’s passing caused even more damage. She recorded six assists in only 10 first-half minutes and repeatedly accelerated the offense before China could organize its defense.
Bueckers offered a different kind of control. She scored efficiently, moved without the ball and helped maintain the rhythm of the offense while Clark initially waited on the bench. Howard provided another 14 points, preventing China from concentrating all its defensive attention on the two young guards.
Angel Reese accepts Team USA’s tallest challenge against Zhang Ziyu
Reese’s value was measured less by scoring and more by the assignment she accepted. Zhang, a 19-year-old center who stands approximately a foot taller than Reese, presents a problem few teams can recreate in practice. She can receive the ball close to the rim without jumping and force defenders to decide between surrendering position or risking a foul.
Reese chose to fight. She stayed low, held her ground and tried to make every step difficult for Zhang. The whistle eventually went against her, but the possession revealed the type of physical resistance Team USA will need if it faces another elite interior player later in the tournament.
Zhang still finished with 13 points and six rebounds, but the Americans prevented her from controlling the game. They used speed, defensive pressure and ball movement to attack the areas where China’s enormous height advantage could not protect it.
China also entered the tournament without Dallas Wings center Li Yueru, whose passport was reportedly lost in the mail before she could travel. Li averaged 17.7 points and 11 rebounds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and her absence deprived China of another experienced interior presence alongside Zhang and Han Xu.
The victory was Team USA’s 70th consecutive win in official competition since losing to Russia in the 2006 World Cup . The Americans have won four consecutive World Cups and 11 titles overall, but many of the players responsible for building that dynasty are no longer present.
Team USA will be back on the court Sunday, September 6, against Italy in its second Group D game at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Tipoff is set for 2:45 p.m. ET, with the game airing on TNT and streaming live on HBO Max. Another victory would move the Americans closer to securing first place in the group before Monday’s finale against Czechia.
