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Team USA won its fifth straight FIBA Women's World Cup gold in Berlin, and the whole thing turned on one quarter of basketball.
France led 45-43 at halftime, shot the lights out from three, and looked like the more consistent team for most of the tournament. Then the U.S. won the third quarter 30-12 and closed it out 97-79. Breanna Stewart took home her second World Cup MVP, the first player ever to win two. We break down the Kara Lawson substitutions that swung the end of the first half, the role players who made it work, and why the loudest media narratives around this team were nonsense.
This week we dig into:
- FIBA World Cup final: the 30-12 third quarter, Stewart's double-double and MVP, Angel Reese leading the team in field goal percentage and blocks, Caitlin Clark playing freer off the bench, and Jackie Young becoming the first player ever to win a high school title, an NCAA championship, a WNBA championship, 3x3 Olympic gold, 5x5 Olympic gold, and a World Cup gold
- WNBA playoff seeding: the Lynx sitting at a 96% chance to lock the one seed, the Valkyries, Aces, Fever, Dream, Liberty, Mystics, and Wings all fighting for position, and how the FIBA break changes who's rested and who's rusty heading into the September 27 playoff start
- USWNT roster prediction for the October friendlies against world number one Spain, including the injury list (Emily Sonnett, Olivia Moultrie, Catarina Macario), Rose Lavelle's return from concussion protocol, and the case for Ashley Sanchez that we think Emma Hayes can't ignore
- NWSL parity check: two million fans through the gate for the second time in league history, eight players already in double digits for goals to break the league record, Ashley Sanchez one goal off the single-season record, and Portland giving away two points in stoppage time to Chicago
- PWHL finally landing a U.S. national broadcast deal with Scripps Sports, including a Saturday Game of the Week on ION and a reported first-ever All-Star Game in Toronto
We also cover ESPN adding 11 more weeks of Women's Sports Sundays, Elena Rybakina's U.S. Open title and rise to world number one, Taylor Townsend completing her doubles career Grand Slam, new Unrivaled tour stops in Boston, Detroit, and Philadelphia, the WPBL championship series, and a setback segment about the media speculation neither of us has patience for.
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