BERLIN – In a commanding turnaround performance following a shaky preliminary round matchup, the United States women’s national basketball team delivered a dominant 105-64 victory over the Czech Republic on Monday, powered by star forward Breanna Stewart’s all-around standout play. Stewart, a core leader for the American squad, notched 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists to anchor the win, a bounce-back effort after the team narrowly escaped with a 55-52 win over Italy a day prior – the Americans’ closest preliminary round finish in half a century. Stewart set the tempo from the opening tip, erasing any lingering concerns of a repeat slow start, and helped extend USA’s unprecedented unbeaten streak at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup to 33 consecutive games. The run stretches back to the team’s 2006 World Cup semifinal loss to Russia. Stewart got off to a blistering start, putting up 11 points in the first 10 minutes of play to push the U.S. to an early 29-15 advantage. That opening burst was a stark contrast to the team’s sluggish first half against Italy, where the Americans managed just 30 total points in the first two quarters. Napheesa Collier built on Stewart’s early momentum in the second quarter, scoring seven of her 12 total points in the frame to help the U.S. stretch its lead to 57-33 by halftime. The Czech side never mounted a serious challenge in the second half, as the American lead swelled to over 40 points at its peak. Stewart, who set her World Cup career scoring high of 23 points in a 2018 matchup against China, fell just short of that mark on Monday, having only played just over 16 minutes total. She sat out the entire fourth quarter, which also ended her shot at becoming just the second player in Women’s World Cup history to record a triple-double. The only player to achieve that milestone so far is the Czech Republic’s own Erika Dobrovicova, who notched the feat in a 1994 game against Spain. For the Czech Republic, Monday’s loss closed out a winless run in pool play at this year’s tournament. This year’s World Cup marks the Czechs’ first appearance at the event since 2014, and the team previously claimed a silver medal when it hosted the tournament in 2010. With the preliminary round now complete, the U.S. advances to the quarterfinal round, set to tip off on Thursday. Their opponent in the knockout round will be the winner of Tuesday’s pool play matchup between Hungary and Japan. A full slate of other preliminary round games took place across the tournament on Monday: China secured a win over Italy, Germany defeated Mali, Belgium earned a victory over Australia, Puerto Rico edged out Turkey, France handily beat Nigeria, Spain took down Japan, and Hungary picked up a narrow win over South Korea.
Breanna Stewart sparks US to 105-64 rout of Czech Republic after a scare vs Italy
