American dominance is on the line in this second week of September.
The U.S. women’s basketball team is among the predominant dynasties in modern international sports, and have won eight consecutive Olympic gold medals and four consecutive World Cups. They have not lost a game at either event since 2006, and three victories in Berlin have extended their World Cup winning streak to 33 games. Their Olympic win streak is at 61 games.
The U.S. has never lost a quarterfinal game in the FIBA Women’s World Cup, and they will look to keep that going on Thursday. But they will have to do it with their biggest star in an undefined role.
Caitlin Clark has come off the bench in all three group stage games for the US. She went from a record-setting 14-point, 11-assist debut against China to scoring just one point and missing every field goal in a career-low game against Italy, as the U.S. nearly suffered a devastating upset.
Clark rebounded with nine points and seven assists in a blowout win against Czechia to close the group stage.
But going into the knockout stage, as France and Belgium have looked more dominant than the U.S., Clark’s role will be a subject of higher consequence, both on the court and on social media. Many fans have called for other young stars like Paige Buecker and Angel Reese to start as well.
And as America will look to defend its Olympic dynasty in home soil in 2028, what happens with Clark, Bueckers and Reese in this next week will be the world’s last impression of how those three gel until LA28.
Clark’s chemistry with her World Cup teammates was on display in a viral video where three other players appeared to point and laugh as she bent her bare feet backward under a bench to hide them from a camera in the locker room. The players laughing included Reese and Fever teammate Aliyah Boston.
Team USA Coach Kara Lawson has used Clark as a change-of-pace guard off the bench. That strategy looked nearly perfect in the opener against China.
Clark entered the game and immediately accelerated the American offense. She finished with 14 points and 11 assists in 25 minutes as the U.S. won 94-61. She did not commit a turnover.
Her 11 assists were the most ever by an American in a Womens World Cup debut. Clark also became the first player from any country to record at least 10 assists without a turnover in a World Cup game since FIBA began tracking the statistic in 1994.
Clark said that she was prepared to accept a different role than the one she holds with the Indiana Fever after the China game
“Being surrounded by five people who have won gold medals before at the highest level, I try to follow their lead and take every bit of wisdom they try to give me,” Clark said, according to FIBA</a
