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 on to the quarterfinals. 

“Tonight we didn’t have our best. We weren’t as focused as we needed to be,” U.S. coach Kara Lawson told TNT’s broadcast. “That’s my job to get them where we need to be, and we have another game tomorrow.” 

Down 50-48 with 4:48 left, buckets by four 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 launched a 3-point attempt, had a chance to tie the game with a three, 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 U.S. has won gold in every Olympics and World Cup since 2006, and before that, since 1994. It had not lost a FIBA World Cup game since Sept. 21, 2006, against Russia — its only loss in an Olympics or FIBA World Cup game since 1994. The 55 points the U.S. scored were its lowest total in a preliminary World Cup game since 1971. 

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 U.S. 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 buried 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 could hang, and responded by tightening up. 

All of a sudden, Italy was close. All of a sudden, Italy was leading. And the U.S. was in a dogfight it wasn’t expecting, wasn’t ready for and could hardly survive. 

“No one got down because they were missing shots,” Young told TNT. “We just kept motivating each other. The ball’s eventually gonna go in, but at the same time, just getting stops on the defensive end. And when it came down late, we were able to make some shots.” 

Young’s 10 points made her the only American with double digits, and her four field goals made her the only American with more than two. Breanna Stewart missed eight consecutive field goals before finally sinking one with just over three minutes to go, though she did lead the Americans with 10 rebounds. Clark missed all six of her shots and as a team, the U.S. shot an abysmal 29 percent from the field. 

Zandalasini’s 14 points led Italy. 

While the U.S. secured its passage out of the group stage with a win, this result will boost the hopes of everyone else nonetheless. 

“I feel like it made us understand that we can compete with the best teams in the world,” Italy’s Lorela Cubaj told TNT. “I’m very proud of my team.” 

The Americans are rarely vulnerable in international women’s basketball. 

Now there is blood in the water.