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The U.S. women’s basketball team verged on disaster Sunday afternoon in a way it rarely has in its history.
A program that rarely wins by single digits was pushed to its absolute limit by Italy in the women’s FIBA World Cup, trailing with less than five minutes to go before escaping Berlin’s Uber Arena with a 55-52 win that allows them to avoid historical ignominy and move onto the quarterfinals.
Down 50-48 with 4:48 left, buckets by four different players — Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray — gave the Americans a 7-0 run and five-point lead that ultimately proved decisive.
Even that, though, was not without drama.
Down three with under 30 seconds to go, the possession arrow went to Italy off a jump ball with a chance to tie.
Cecilia Zandalasini had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but missed after taking contact she felt should have resulted in a foul.
Wins are rarely shocking. This was shocking.
How shocking? The Americans beat Italy by 34 points in a qualifier back in March. The US has won gold in every Olympics and World Cup since 2006, and before that, since 1994. It has not lost a FIBA World Cup game since September 21, 2006, against Russia — its only loss in an Olympics or FIBA World Cup game since 1994.
While A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum aren’t in Germany, pulling out last week due to health issues, the American roster is nonetheless stacked with All-Star talent: Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston are all coming off the bench for Kara Lawson’s side.
Accordingly, the US blew past China 94-61 to open the tournament, and led Italy 23-8 early in the second quarter before things started to slip.
While the Americans never outright struggled defensively, it was a different story with the ball in their hands. They didn’t make a 3-pointer until Bueckers sunk one with 1:49 to go in the third. They turned the ball over and struggled to finish through contact. They looked surprised that Italy could hang, and responded by tightening up.
All of a sudden, Italy was close. All of a sudden, Italy was leading. And the US was in a dogfight it wasn’t expecting, wasn’t ready for and could hardly survive.
On this star-studded roster, no player reached double-digit points until Jackie Young with less than three minutes left. Breanna Stewart missed eight consecutive field goals before finally sinking one with just over three minutes to go; Clark missed all six of her shots and as a team, the US shot an abysmal 29 percent from the field.
Young’s 10 points ultimately led the US and Stewart, who finished with five points, led the Americans with 10 rebounds. Zandalasini’s 14 points led Italy.
While the US secured its passage out of the group stage with a win, this result will boost the hopes of everyone else nonetheless.
The Americans are rarely ever vulnerable in international women’s basketball.
Now there is blood in the water.
English (US)