Team USA defeated France 97-79 in the final of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup on Sunday in Berlin, winning the tournament for a fifth straight time.
Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young combined for 40 points to lead the Americans, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the second quarter before pulling away with a dominant third-quarter run.
Comeback extends historic streak
Team USA trailed by as many as 14 points in the second quarter but stormed back, outscoring France 30-12 in the third quarter to seize control of the game. The victory pushed the Americans' FIBA World Cup winning streak to 36 games and secured a fifth consecutive championship.
It was also the sixth straight win for Team USA over France, a run that includes a 67-66 victory over the French in the final of the Paris Summer Olympics.
Stewart, who plays in the WNBA for the New York Liberty, finished with 22 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. It was her fourth World Cup title.
Clark plays reserve role again
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who set the NCAA career scoring record at the University of Iowa before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, continued to play a secondary role off the bench for coach Kara Lawson's team, as she had throughout the tournament. She finished with 12 points in 13 minutes while committing four turnovers.
Clark's contribution came at a crucial moment, though. Her buzzer-beating three-pointer just before halftime pulled the Americans within two points after they had trailed for much of the first half.
Third-quarter surge breaks the game open
Team USA opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run to move ahead 54-47, with Stewart scoring four points during the decisive burst. France briefly cut the deficit to 55-51, but the Americans answered with a 16-3 run that included two unsportsmanlike fouls called on France on the same play.
By the end of the third quarter, Team USA led 73-57, and France was never able to close the gap in the fourth.
A young roster leans on its veterans
This was the second-youngest team the United States has sent to a World Cup. The roster included several players making their first appearances with the national team, among them Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers. But it was the team's veterans who carried Team USA to the title.
The Americans have not lost a World Cup game since 2006, when they were beaten by Russia. They are now 9-0 in gold-medal games since finishing second to the Soviet Union in 1983.
Toughest test of the streak
Team USA had looked more vulnerable during this tournament than at any point in its long run of dominance. A three-point win over Italy in pool play was the closest any team had come to the Americans in the group stage in 50 years, and a 10-point victory over Spain in the semifinal was the closest semifinal contest during the streak. Over their previous four medal-round games, the Americans had been winning by an average of 26 points.
None of that mattered in the final. Team USA finished the tournament the same way it had the previous four World Cups: as champions.
France's best-ever finish
The runner-up finish was nonetheless the best-ever result for France at the World Cup. The French had hoped to go one better after coming within a point of beating the Americans in the gold-medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a defeat that still stung two years later.
Dominique Malonga scored 21 points and Gabby Williams added 20 for France.
France's fast start
France got off to a strong start in Berlin. The Americans trailed 20-17 after the first quarter, and the French opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Williams, to lead 31-17. Team USA rallied from there, trailing just 45-43 at halftime after Clark's buzzer-beating three.
Spain beat host Germany to win the bronze medal.
