The United States women responded well to a tough game against Italy with a commanding 105-64 win against Czechia on Monday. The US women improved to 3-0 in Group Play, now having racked up wins over China, Italy, and Czechia. They’re one of three teams to directly advance to the quarterfinals, the others being France and Belgium.
Still, though they are undefeated so far, they haven’t always looked as dominant as many expected; they escaped with a 3-point win over Italy on Sunday, in a game in which only one American player (Jackie Young) scored double-digit points.
But, less than 24 hours later, the US women looked like a different squad. They scored more points in the first half of Monday’s win (57) than in the entirety of Sunday’s game (55). (Sunday marked USA’S lowest-scoring World Cup game since 1971.)
What makes the United State’s difficulties against Italy even more perplexing is that Italy went on to get blown out by China 71-51 just 24 hours after the 3-point loss to the US. That’s the same China team that the US beat by 33 points in the opening game of Group Play.
It was a full-team effort against Czechia on Monday
In Monday’s win, six players finished with double-digit points: Breanna Stewart (19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), Angel Reese (12 points, 6 rbeounds, 3 steals), Napheesa Collier (12 points, 6 rebounds), Jackie Young (12 points, 3 assists), Paige Bueckers (10 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks), and Sonia Citron (10 points, 7 rebounds).
Caitlin Clark added 9 points and 7 assists, and Kiki Iriafen added 7 points and 11 rebounds.
In total, Team USA finished with a whopping 32 assists — nearly three times as many as the 11 assists they collectively tallied one day before against Italy.
Regardless, they’ll turn their focus to the other powerhouses of the World Cup, a list that includes France and Belgium (both of whom are also 3-0 so far) as well as Spain and Australia, among others.
On Thursday, the US will play the winner of Tuesday’s qualification game between Japan and Hungary. If they win that game, Spain, Australia, or Italy could all be waiting on the other side of the bracket in the semi-finals.
And, while the United States hasn’t looked untouchable, Monday’s resounding victory over Czechia was a step in the right direction.
