BERLIN, GERMANY — Team USA, featuring two Atlanta Dream standouts, remains undefeated in the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup after a massive win over Hungary to advance to the semifinals Thursday.
China, Italy and Czechia were no match for USA in the Cup's group phase; and, early Thursday morning, Team USA proved they could handle Hungary in the quarterfinals knockout.
The team have moved to the semifinals, which will be held at 8 a.m. EST Saturday.
The boxscore showed everyone eats on USA as all 12 players knocked down a bucket in the ferocious matchup, leading to a 108-56 victory in USA's favor.
The Dream's Rhyne Howard and Angel Reese had the hot hand on defense, with their combined six steals and eight rebounds. They scored 15 and 9 points respectively.
After USA's win over Czechia, fans affectionately took to social media to call Howard, who is the WNBA's current steals leader, an "international thief."
USA's feat against Hungary is the first time in World Cup history that a team has recorded more than 30 assists in a women's quarterfinal. The team also scored the highest points ever recorded in a women's quarterfinal.
Here's the full list of records USA set in Thursday's game, per FIBA:
- Their total of 108 points was the highest ever recorded by a team in a quarterfinals game at the Women's World Cup.
- USA became the first team with 30+ assists in a Women's World Cup quarterfinal game.
- Leading 59-30 at half-time, it was a record first-half points total in the history of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
- The tally of 59 points for USA was their best total after 20 minutes of any knockout game at the Women's World Cup.
- At 29 points, this was the biggest winning margin at half-time in any previous Women's World Cup quarterfinal.
Continuing the knockout phase of the tournament, USA will face the winner of the Spain-Australia matchup. The Dream's Isobel Borlase has become a frontrunner for Australia.
Upon Howard and Reese's return to Atlanta, they will rejoin the Dream to prepare for the team's final stretch in its regular season. Then will come the playoffs.
With a 26-14 win-loss record, the Dream presently fills the fourth seed in the WNBA rankings.
The Dream's regular season will pick back up on Sept. 17 with a battle against the Connecticut Sun (10-30).
They will also take on the New York Liberty twice, as well as the Chicago Sky, to close out the regular season.
The WNBA on Wednesday released the playoff schedule. The first round will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, and will be televised on ABC.
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