Team shows resilience in tough tournament

By Josh Ortega

This week, the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup tipped off in Berlin, Germany. Sixteen teams enter the tournament looking to reach the final on September 13. Heading into the tournament, the United States and its all-star roster were one of the heavy favorites to reach the final after winning the last four tournaments. 

Twelve of the WNBA’s best players were selected to represent the country at this year’s tournament. The team includes multiple ties to the Metroplex, including the Dallas Wings’ star guard Paige Bueckers, one of the many young stars from the W selected for U.S. Head Coach Kara Lawson’s team. Wings’ Head Coach Jose Fernandez was also named to the coaching staff as a team scout. 

Nonetheless, the U.S.’s path to the final is one of the more treacherous of the entire tournament. The U.S. were placed in Group D along with China, Italy and Czechia. All three of the opponents were ranked among the world’s top 20 teams according to the last FIBA ranking back in the spring. China was the only other team to be with the U.S. as one of the top teams in the world heading into this fall’s tournament. The two countries faced off Friday night. 

In one of the tournament’s marquee matchups, the U.S. defeated China 94-61 to open up group play. Bueckers was one of three U.S. players off the bench to finish in team-high double figures with 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field. The Wings’ guard finished with the second most minutes on the floor in the U.S. win. 

Team USA faced a tough and tall frontcourt from China, which included 7-foot, 3-inch phenom Zhang Ziyu coming off the bench for China. The 17-year-old center has become a powerhouse overseas in China due to her size. Ziyu first burst onto the scene in the 2024 Under-18 World Cup, where she led the tournament with 35 points a game and 12.8 rebounds per game. 

Ziyu is technically eligible to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft this summer. However, the star center has not yet announced whether she will be declaring. Due to her size, Ziyu is a handful for opposing defenses at the rim and grabbing rebounds. The United States held her to six rebounds and 13 points on the bench in the team’s win, with Lawson using the WNBA’s leading rebounder Angel Reece of the Atlanta Dream, and Aliyiah Boston of the Indiana Fever, to spearhead defense against both Ziyu and New York Liberty forward Han Xu, who also finished her night in double figures. Lawson expressed she felt her team did well in a clear side advantage mismatch against China after the win. 

“China presented a lot of problems for us. Their size in the frontcourt clearly is a matchup problem for I think for every team in the world,” said Lawson after the win. “I thought we did a pretty good job managing that.” 

The U.S. continued group play against Italy Sunday afternoon. After the U.S. scored 19 points in the first quarter Italy went on to outscore Team USA in both the second and third quarters before retaking the lead with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Italy was led by Golden State Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini, who had 14 points and seven rebounds. The U.S. would go on to regain the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, closing out a 55-52 win over Italy and going atop Group D. 

New York Liberty and Team USA Forward Breanna Stewart spoke after the win about the resilience the team showed in such a short amount of time together to come out with the win and move on to the quarterfinals stage of the tournament. 

“Italy really kind of mucked up the game for us a little bit and made it difficult for us to score. Tough team, tons of respect for what they have done,” Stewart said. “Just proud of the resiliency of this group. We haven’t had a lot of time together, and when things really mattered down the stretch, we were able to get big stops, offensively, get good baskets. A win is a win, and we hope to continue to build on this forward.”

Head Coach Lawson commented on the performance from her team despite the win that sent the U.S. into the next round. Team USA narrowly escaped with the victory keeping alive a streak since 2006 without a loss in the FIBA World Cup tournament. Lawson commented that her team’s performance was not at their standard against Italy, but it showed resilience in a tough tournament. 

“We watched film and I think you have to be honest with yourself as an individual and as a team when you have a performance that’s below your level. Don’t try to excuse away what happened, be honest with what you’re seeing and go back to work to improve. It’s so hard to win in the World Cup and I know our history is so accomplished at our federation. We all know the expectation is for us to win, but every single one of those wins came hard and everyone at this tournament comes hard and we understand that,” Lawson said. “You have to have great respect with who you play, and you have to prepare in a way to win. So, it’s supposed to be challenging. We are supposed to have moments where we are not at our best. The teams that can persevere through that and have a resilient mindset are the ones that are able to win. That’s what it takes and that’s why, if you’re fortunate enough at the end of the tournament to be the winner, that’s why it is so satisfying, exhilarating, that’s why you celebrate the way you do because it’s not easy.”

She added: “I’m proud of our group. We have a lot to work on. We understand that it was a performance below our standard. We are not ducking that. At the same time how hard is it for you when there is a performance below your standard and you just still find a way to win.”

Team USA wrapped up group play against Czechia Monday afternoon. The U.S. will be back in action in the quarterfinal round Thursday. At the time of writing, Team USA’s opponent is still to be decided.