Team USA staves off disaster against Italy in rare tight win at FIBA World Cup
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 co...