Updated
Updated · Yahoo Sports · Sep 8
Team USA Crushes Czechia 105-64 to Finish 3-0 as Stewart Sparks 33rd Straight World Cup Win
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Sports · Sep 8

Team USA Crushes Czechia 105-64 to Finish 3-0 as Stewart Sparks 33rd Straight World Cup Win

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Sep 8

Summary

  • 105-64 over Czechia sent Team USA into the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals at 3-0, capping a Group D sweep with its largest win of the tournament.
  • Breanna Stewart led the response to Sunday’s 55-52 scare against Italy with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 17 minutes, while six Americans scored in double figures and every player scored.
  • Kara Lawson’s challenge on effort and intensity showed up early: the U.S. opened with three straight 3-pointers, finished 7-for-25 from deep after going 1-for-12 against Italy, and dominated the glass 55-35.
  • Kiki Iriafen turned a DNP against Italy into five points and 11 rebounds in eight minutes, though the Americans still committed 11 second-half turnovers that Czechia converted into 11 points.
  • The 41-point win extended the U.S. streak to 33 straight World Cup victories dating to 2006; next comes a Sept. 10 quarterfinal against the winner of Japan-Hungary.

Insights

Was Team USA's massive blowout a true return to form, or just the result of facing a winless Czechia squad?
Will Kiki Iriafen's incredible eight-minute rebounding clinic force Coach Lawson to drastically alter her quarterfinal rotation?