Team USA erased a deadlocked game with an 18-8 fourth-quarter run to beat Spain 76-66 in Berlin and punch its ticket to a fifth straight FIBA Women's World Cup championship game.
Breanna Stewart scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds Saturday at Berlin Arena as the Americans survived a stubborn Spanish side that held the game level at 58-58 heading into the final period. The win extends a World Cup winning streak that stretches back to 2006, two decades of dominance that nearly hit a wall in Germany.
For three quarters, Spain matched Team USA possession for possession. Maria Conde and Iyana Martín each poured in 17 points for Spain, and the Americans shot just 40 percent from the field and a dismal 3-for-18 from beyond the arc. Fifteen turnovers compounded the problem. At halftime, with Team USA clinging to a slim 39-36 lead, head coach Kara Lawson told her players they needed to be "a little more precise in our coverages" and to "stay aggressive and stay calm," OutKick reported.
Spain answered that halftime adjustment by tying the game by the end of the third quarter. The Americans looked nothing like the team that had demolished Hungary by 52 points earlier in the tournament.
Then the fourth quarter arrived, and Team USA finally played like the dynasty it claims to be. The Americans outscored Spain 18-8 over the final ten minutes, turning a coin-flip game into a comfortable 10-point victory. Jackie Young was the catalyst, scoring six of her 12 points in the decisive period. Young also finished with 5 rebounds, providing the kind of two-way effort the Americans lacked for most of the night.
Kahleah Copper added 13 points. Paige Bueckers chipped in 6, and Angel Reese contributed 5. Stewart, the team's anchor, credited the turnaround to fundamentals rather than flash.
Stewart told reporters after the game:
"Just continue to do the little things. Honing in on the rebounding, making sure that we were getting to the offensive glass. Defensively, we picked up in the second half."
Rebounding and defensive effort, not three-point shooting, not highlight plays, carried the Americans when their perimeter game abandoned them. On a night when the team converted fewer than 17 percent of its threes, the paint and the glass decided the outcome.
One notable subplot: Caitlin Clark, who had led Team USA in assists entering the semifinal, came off the bench and finished with just 1 point, 1 assist, and 1 rebound on 0-for-3 shooting. Clark, whose rising profile has drawn attention well beyond the basketball court, posted a double-double in Team USA's tournament-opening win over China. Saturday was a different story.
Dan Dakich discussed Clark's bench role and Lawson's lineup decisions in a video segment accompanying the article. The coaching choice to limit Clark's minutes in a tight semifinal will draw scrutiny, but the result speaks for itself: the Americans advanced.
Clark's WNBA career has become a cultural flashpoint in its own right. The broader debate over women's sports, from eligibility rules to media coverage, has followed her and several teammates onto the international stage. None of that mattered Saturday in Berlin. What mattered was whether Team USA could close out a game it was in danger of losing.
Spain deserves credit. Conde and Martín combined for 34 points and kept their team within striking distance deep into the contest. But Spain managed just 8 points in the fourth quarter, and when the Americans locked in defensively, the gap widened fast.
Team USA now faces France in the final. Stewart described France as a tough opponent and made clear the team's objective hasn't changed.
Stewart said:
"This is going to be challenging, and obviously we have the biggest one tomorrow. But that's what we're here. We're going for gold, and that's what we're going to do."
The Americans are chasing a fifth consecutive World Cup title, a run of dominance unmatched in international women's basketball. The streak has survived roster turnover, coaching changes, and now a semifinal that required a furious fourth-quarter rally to keep it alive.
The women's game has drawn unprecedented attention in recent years, driven by star power, cultural debates, and a growing audience that demands competitive excellence alongside the off-court conversations. Saturday's semifinal delivered the competitive part, barely.
Broader questions about how women's sports are governed continue to percolate at every level, from federal legislation on college athletics to international eligibility standards. Team USA, for now, gets to set those debates aside and focus on the one thing that matters in Berlin: winning one more game.
Twenty years of World Cup supremacy came within a quarter of ending Saturday night. It didn't, because when it counted, the Americans remembered how to play defense and hit the glass. France will test whether that lesson sticks.
