The U.S. women’s basketball team edged Italy 55-52 on Sunday in the U.S.’ closest FIBA World Cup game since its last defeat in 2006.
Italy led 50-49 with 3:21 left before the U.S. regained control in a group-stage game of the biggest international tournament between now and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Italy really kind of mucked up the game for us a little bit and made it difficult for us to score,” said Breanna Stewart, the most experienced American. “Tough team. Tons of respect to what they’ve done. Just proud of the resiliency of this group.”
The Americans stormed out to a 19-8 lead after the first quarter in Berlin, but Italy rallied to get within three going into the fourth quarter.
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Italy, led by Cecilia Zandalasini of the Golden State Valkyries, qualified to play in its first global championship since the 1996 Olympics. It took third at the 2025 EuroBasket, its best finish at that continental tournament since 1995.
Zandalasini (game-high 14 points) missed a three-pointer with three seconds left that could have sent the game into overtime.
The U.S., without reigning Olympic, World Cup, WNBA and WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson, shot 29% from the field, including 1 for 12 on three-pointers. Jackie Young led the team with 10 points.
“You do have to be able to win when you don’t have your fastball,” said Kara Lawson, in her first global championship as U.S. head coach after succeeding 2024 Olympic coach Chery Reeve. “We didn’t have our fastball tonight, but we figured it out late. We’ll grow from it.”
Wilson and fellow Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Plum were replaced on the roster for health reasons in the week leading up to the tournament.
The U.S. has won 32 consecutive FIBA World Cup games since its last defeat in the semifinals in 2006 to Russia. Before Sunday, its closest game during the win streak was 83-75 over Australia in 2010.
The U.S. scored fewer than 70 points in a World Cup game for the first time since the 2006 loss to Russia and had its fewest point total in a global championship game since 1971.
The U.S. opened this World Cup with a 94-61 victory over China on Friday in a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final.
At the Paris Olympics, the U.S. was tested by France in the gold-medal game, winning that 67-66 in its closest Olympic game since its last defeat at the Games in the semifinals in 1992. The three-point win on Sunday marked its second-smallest margin of victory in any Olympic or World Cup game since a loss to Brazil in 1994.
“We want to be in these tough positions because we want to get ready for what’s to come,” Stewart said.
The U.S. finishes group play against Czechia on Monday at 2:45 p.m. ET. After that come the knockout rounds, including the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“It’s so hard to win in the World Cup,” Lawson said. “I know our history is so accomplished at our federation, and we all know the expectation is for us to win, but every single one of those wins came hard. I said this before the start of the tournament, I think this is the most challenging World Cup to win of any one before. There’s much more depth to the rosters at the World Cup.
“Every game feels like a dog fight. It’s really hard, and on any given night if you’re not prepared to play, you’ll lose. That’s awesome for our sport.”
The U.S. women’s national team plays at the FIBA World Cup from Sept. 4-13.