USA Survives Italy Upset Bid, Box Score & Reaction for Clark, Reese from 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup

The United States picked up another victory in the group stage of the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin on Sunday, but it was anything but easy.

An American team that is accustomed to dominating and entered play with a 31-game winning streak in the World Cup needed a second-half comeback to defeat Italy 55-52. The United States is now 2-0 in Group D play after handling China by 33 points in the opener, but Sunday's game that clinched a spot in the quarterfinals required far more late heroics.

Chelsea Young hit the game's biggest shot down the stretch, while Jackie Young played lockdown defense on Italy's final possession and finished as her team's leading scorer.

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Jackie Young	10	4	3	2	0
Breanna Stewart	5	11	1	2	0
Caitlin Clark	1	4	1	0	0
Angel Reese	8	3	0	1	2
Paige Bueckers	7	5	2	2	2

The United States is going to have the most talent every time it steps on the floor in this tournament with a roster that includes Napheesa Collier, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart, Angel Reese and more.

Anything but convincing victories, especially early in the group stage, is surprising, which made Sunday's game so shocking. The Americans looked like they were going through the motions offensively as they didn't hit a single three-pointer in the first half and shot 32 percent from the field, although they still found themselves ahead by six at intermission.

That is because their suffocating defense overwhelmed the Italians with Reese swatting shots down low and even Bueckers getting in on the block party from the backcourt. Italy turned it over 10 times before halftime, which created a number of open looks for the Red, White and blue to overcome some of the offensive woes.

But those offensive woes went nowhere for extended stretches in the third quarter as Italy took the lead.

The guards started forcing contested jumpers, the bigs struggled to deal with swarming double teams and Cecilia Zandalasini started creating scoring opportunities by driving the lane. The Americans went more than five minutes without hitting a field goal and found themselves in comeback mode shortly before the fourth.

It looked as if the United States finally seized some semblance of control when Bueckers hit the team's only three and its defense helped take the lead back, but Italy didn't fold. Instead, it went run-for-run with the powerhouse and had the lead with fewer than four minutes remaining.

However, crunch time belonged to the Americans with Stewart deflecting a pass for a steal, Gray hitting a massive jumper and Young providing just enough defense to clinch the win.

The United States now turns its attention to its final group stage game on Monday against Czechia.