The victory guided Team USA to its fourth straight gold medal and seventh out of the eight U-17 tournaments in history.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into this, we knew there’s some tremendous teams,\u201d USA head coach Steve Gomez said. \u201cAnd for our girls to be that tough in 19 days to be able to come together and fight like that, it’s a testament to those 12 kids because nothing was easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micah Ojo led Team USA with 20 points. Arianna Robinson chipped in 14 points, while Nation Williams finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), two steals and three blocks.<\/p>\n
Erasing a Late Deficit<\/p>\n
USA led 27-23 following the opening quarter. Spain went on a 16-14 run in the second quarter, but the Americans had a 41-39 advantage at the half.<\/p>\n
After Team USA maintained a 61-58 lead after three quarters. However, Spain turned a corner in the final quarter.<\/p>\n
Isabel Hernandez, who led all scorers with 28 points, knocked down a 3-pointer to give Spain a 70-69 lead. From there, Spain held onto a 73-71 lead.<\/p>\n
Then, Team USA kicked it into high gear and went on a 11-0 run until the end of regulation to capture gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these girls, they\u2019re just gamers, and they know when to make the right play,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cEach of those games, when it got close, we had some key players make key plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka Named MVP<\/p>\n
Manyacka’s impressive showing at the U-17 Tournament led to her second straight international MVP award. Manyacka was also honored with the MVP award at the U-16 AmeriCup in 2025.<\/p>\n
The 5-star forward out of The Bullis School (MD) finished with nine points, 10 boards, three assists, a block and a steal in the gold medal game.<\/p>\n
Manyacka, the 2025-26 Gatorade Maryland Girls Basketball Player of the Year, did a little bit of everything in her World Cup games. She recorded a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) and three steals in Team USA\u2019s 74-72 win over Australia on July 12.<\/p>\n
In USA\u2019s 117-24 win over Ivory Coast on July 11, Manyacka tallied 21 points, four assists, six steals and two blocks. Manyacka then had 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals in USA\u2019s 86-60 win over Canada in the World Cup semifinals on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Through seven games, Manyacka averaged 12.9 points, six rebounds and 2.6 steals per game for the Americans.<\/p>\n
Facing Tough Competition<\/p>\n
Team USA may have gone 7-0 and scored 100-or-more points in three of the seven games, but overall competition was fierce.<\/p>\n
Two of the Americans\u2019 victories were by single digits, including their group play win over Australia (74-72) and the gold medal triumph against Spain (82-73). Even the playoff victories over Slovakia and Canada took a bit more to reach the end.<\/p>\n
With a steady balance of opponents, Team USA still managed to average a 39.8 point margin.<\/p>\n
Double-Double Machine<\/p>\n
Williams, a 5-star standout forward out of Las Vegas (NV), recorded a double-double in four of Team USA\u2019s seven games.<\/p>\n
The Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year racked up impressive in each of those games:<\/p>\n
July 11 vs. Ivory Coast \u2013 11 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and two blocks.July 15 vs. Mexico \u2013 10 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.July 18 vs. Canada \u2013 14 points, 11 rebounds and six steals.July 19 vs. Spain \u2013 10 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and three blocks.<\/p>\n
Williams averaged 8.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.9 blocks a game for the Americans.<\/p>\n
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