USA's Caitlin Clark Soars in Final: Team Surpasses New Zealand 78-69 at FIBA World Cup Finals!
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark played her fourth game in five days with USA Basketball's senior national team. Here's what she showed in her first start.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark logged her first senior national team start Sunday afternoon as USA Basketball beat New Zealand 101-46 in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In that start, she showcased her two-way ability. Clark isn't usually known for her defensive process, but she found an opportunity to steal a ball on a New Zealand inbound at the beginning of the second half, then stole the ball at midcourt and returned it for a quick transition layup.
Clark had significant time on the ball as the team's point guard, then had some minutes playing off the ball with Olympic gold medalist Chelsea Gray running point. In 23 minutes on the floor, Clark had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting (2 of 7 from 3-point range). Her point total was behind only Rhyne Howard, who had 18 points.
Clark also had a team-leading six assists, including a dime to Kiki Iriafen halfway through the fourth quarter to get a layup in transition. Clark has led Team USA in assists in two of its four games in the qualifiers. USA Basketball fully moved away from the five-in, five-out switches it had done in the first three games of the tournament, giving senior national team players a better look at how a true game could be managed.
USA Basketball has one more game to finish out the qualifying tournament, playing Spainat at 5 p. m. Tuesday.