Day 1 of FIBA World Cup action saw eight contests take place, and Team USA established themselves as the clear favorite.
The Americans made the No. 4-ranked country, China, look pedestrian, beating them 94-61. Other favorites such as France took care of business as well. They beat Hungary 99-53. Spain also dominated, beating Germany 83-53.
While no
major upsets occurred on the opening day of play, there were plenty of impressive performances.
Caitlin Clark debuts with a double-double for Team USA
Caitlin Clark was unstoppable against China. They couldn’t stop her from getting her 3-ball going. Whenever she wanted to enter the paint, she did, and with her top-percentile passes reaching the hands of Team USA players, she had oodles of dimes.
She ended the night with a double-double and had an impressive zero-turnover game. It’s early, but Clark playing so well against one of the better teams in this competition could signal that Team USA will cruise to another World Cup title.
How Angel Reese, Kiki Iriafen battled China’s bigs
While Clark dominated in the backcourt, the Team USA players had their hands full in the frontcourt.
China has unreal size, with Zhang Ziyu listed at 7-foot-3 and Han Xu at 6-foot-11. Angel Reese and Kiki Iriafen, standing 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3, respectively, had to take on these defensive duties with A’ja Wilson out for this competition. They did a stellar job.
Both did their work early, fronting Zhang and Han, doing everything possible to deny them the ball. And when they did get it, they made sure it was in the least advantageous positions possible. Those ball entries were further from the basket, off-balance and highly-contested.
Ziyu scored 13 points off the bench, but nine of them were from the free throw line. Xu had 11 points, but struggled from the field, shooting 5-for-14.
France’s Big 3 came to play
France lost to Team USA in the 2024 Olympic final by just one point—and they seem ready to avenge that loss in the World Cup.
Their Big 3 of Marine Johannès, Dominique Malonga and Gabby Williams, all scored 17 points in France’s 99-53 win over Hungary.
This trio is as good as it gets. Williams converted on 70 percent of her shots and Johannès knocked down four 3-pointers.
While Johannès and Williams dominated on the perimeter, Malonga did her damage on the inside. Every time she touched the ball, good things happened. Malonga cleaned up the glass with 10 rebounds, four of them offensive. She only missed three shots in this game and helped put away Hungary long before the final buzzer sounded.
No other team dominated more than France did in this game.
Sure, the competition was light, but the performance was noticeable. Good luck to any team that plays Les Blues.
A look at other opening day results from Berlin
Spain over Germany 83-54
Spain is ranked sixth in the world, and Germany found that out the hard way. This was an easy win for Spain thanks to the play of Awa Fam. She had a game-high 17 points along with three blocks and two steals. Spain never trailed in their blowout win.
Germany has talent, and players like Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally came to play. They both were in double figures. However, that was pretty much it for Germany offensively, as no one else could find a rhythm.
Japan over Mali, 102-97
While many contests were one-sided, this was an even affair. Japan came out on top 102-97. Mali got within one possession in the final minute of play, but then Maki Takada drilled a 3 to give Japan enough breathing room to secure the result.
Takada ended the game with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting. While Takada was a veteran leader, Saki Hayashi was the star. She had a game-high 27 points and had a plus-minus of +9. For Mali, Aminata Sangare and Djeneba N’Diaye were the team’s offensive production. They both scored 22 points. Sika Koné was also a big factor, scoring 21.
Australia over Puerto Rico, 70-54
Steph Talbot was one of the four players for Australia who scored in double figures. She had 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the win.
Puerto Rico struggled offensively, but Arella Guirantes tried to jump-start the scoring, contributing 14 points. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough efficiency as Puerto Rico shot 30 percent from the field.
South Korea over Nigeria, 99-81
The Los Angeles Sparks’ lone World Cup participant, Jihyun Park, came to play in this one. She scored 27 points as South Korea cruised to victory over Nigeria. Leeseul Kang was also dominant. She had 20 points in the win.
Amy Okonkwo ended the night with 22 points for Nigeria, and Murjanatu Musa had a double double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Belgium over Turkey, 89-75
Emma Meesseman might’ve had the best performance of the night. She scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds in Belgium’s win.
Turkey had a balanced attack with five players in double figures, but their poor third quarter sealed their fate. They were outscored 27-9 and never recovered.
Italy beat Czechia 63-54
This was not the prettiest game ever played. Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field and went a combined 10-44 from 3-point range. Still, ugly wins count the same as pretty ones, and Italy got it done.
Cecilia Zandalasini scored 19 points, and Matilde Villa added 14 in Italy’s win. While Czechia struggled to score, don’t include Julie Pospisilova in that. She scored 21 points on 50 percent shooting. Pospisilova will need her teammates to step up if they are to beat China on Sunday.
