Team USA’s performance on Thursday was far from what it put together against Senegal the night before. On Wednesday, the United States’ offense was scorching. The chemistry it displayed made it seem like the players had been playing as a group for a while, not in their first game against an opponent.<\/p>\n
Editor’s Picks It was all gone against Puerto Rico. The U.S. was stagnant, lost some of its pace and committed 14 turnovers.<\/p>\n Clark said Puerto Rico’s zone caused problems, slowing Team USA and limiting its ability to play in transition. But Clark also said that most of the team’s mistakes were “self-inflicted.”<\/p>\n “I thought we missed some of our defensive coverages, especially with how much we were, too, it really limits us in transition when we want to play fast,” Clark said. “It’s hard to push off of a made free throw.”<\/p>\n “Anytime there are breakdowns, it’s usually a combination,” head coach Kara Lawson said when asked if she agreed with Clark’s assessment or if Puerto Rico forced the United States out of its groove.<\/p>\n “We know we are not going to pitch a shutout,” Lawson continued. “So, it’s a combination — it’s our reaction and our understanding of coverages and then being really precise within those coverages. … When your opponent increases in difficulty, they have more skill and power to exploit the things we are not doing well.”<\/p>\n Although it boasts some of the best basketball players in the world, Team USA is still in the process of building chemistry and forming a team identity.<\/p>\n Its game against Senegal was the first game the group has played against another national team, and not just each other in practice. That’s why the United States wanted to play in the qualifying tournament despite having already secured a spot in the World Cup.<\/p>\n “This tournament is our only chance before the World Cup to have games,” Lawson said. “We can have training, but not actual games — actual FIBA games in an environment … and it’s not just the reps and the games. It’s also having the opportunity to be around our veteran players and be around our staff. There’s on-court chemistry, and there’s also off-court chemistry.”<\/p>\n Lawson said she would continue to tinker with her starting group and rotation patterns throughout the tournament. She started an almost entirely new group against Puerto Rico, putting Paige Bueckers<\/a>, Kelsey Plum<\/a>, Chelsea Gray<\/a>, Monique Billings<\/a> and Kiki Iriafen<\/a> on the court first.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Lawson credited Plum, Billings and Iriafen for sparking the team off the bench.<\/p>\n Bueckers led all scorers Thursday with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Plum added 12 points. She scored eight of them in the first five minutes of the game. Iriafen scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/r1627040_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\")
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