U.S. women defeat Hungary to reach FIBA World Cup semifinals

Napheesa Collier (19 points) led the U.S. to a quarterfinal-record 108 points, the most ever by a team in the round.

BERLIN

— Napheesa Collier scored 19 points and the U.S. routed Hungary 108-56 to advance to the semifinals of the women’s FIBA World Cup on Thursday.

The U.S. will play the winner of the Spain-Australia game on Saturday in the medal round. France played China and Belgium played host Germany in the other quarterfinal matchups.

The Americans have now won 34 consecutive games in the tournament dating to a loss to Russia in the 2006 World Cup semifinals. The U.S. has made every medal round since 1983 when the format changed to have medal rounds.

It was a record-breaking performance for the U.S. The 108 points was the most by any team ever in a quarterfinal. The U.S. had 31 assists, again the most in this round.

“When that ball is moving, we want to get the best possible shot,” said Kahleah Copper, who had 10 points. “We want to make sure everybody gets involved. Everyone here on this roster, we know what they’re doing on their respective (WNBA) teams. But you come here, you sacrifice a little bit of that.”

Copper said the players were always looking to turn good scoring opportunities into great ones. The Americans did just that.

The U.S. was off and running early against Hungary, jumping out to a 36-12 lead after the first quarter. The Americans were constantly pounding the ball inside and converting turnovers into easy layups. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese showed their growing chemistry on the court, finishing the quarter with a nifty pick and roll just before the buzzer. Collier had 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

The offense was sizzling early on as the Americans hit 20 of their first 26 shots (77%), including five of six 3-point attempts to race to a 50-18 lead with 6 minutes left in the first half. The Americans led 59-30 at the break — the highest scoring first half in team history in a knockout game at the event according to FIBA.

The Americans got a little scare when Sonia Citron had to leave in the third quarter when she was hit in the nose by a Hungary player’s hand by accident. Citron returned to start the fourth quarter.

Clark finished with 10 points and nine assists, just missing out on her second double-double of the tournament.

The U.S. was also solid on defense. They contained Hungary’s top scorer Dorka Juhasz, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx. She came into the game averaging 15.3 points and 11 rebounds in the tournament. She missed her first seven shots and didn’t get her first basket until 2:26 was left in the half. She finished the game with two points on 1 of 12 shooting.

Hungary came away with its best finish ever in the World Cup by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time. Hungary was fifth in the 1957 tournament but back then it was a round robin with no medal rounds.