Golden again: How Team USA rallied to beat France and win the World Cup

The U.S. women's basketball team has not lost a game in major international play since 2006, and has lost only one gold medal game (in 1983). Yet when the Americans faced a double-digit deficit in the first half of the FIBA Women's World Cup final Sunday, they couldn't just rely on history. They had to get it done on court. Team USA beat France 97-79 in Berlin to win their fifth consecutive World Cup title and 12th overall. Trailing 45-43 at halftime, the Americans took control in the third quarter, outscoring France 30-12. That dominance decided the game and the gold medal. Coming in, France had been the more impressive team in the tournament, winning its five games by an average of 35.6 points, with no margin closer than 22. Team USA, by contrast, beat Italy in group play by three points and Spain in the semifinals by 10. A strong start Sunday kept the momentum on France's side. But then the U.S. defense took it up a notch in the second half, and the offense followed. The mojo changed entirely in the Americans' favor, with multiple players stepping forward. Stars like four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were out due to injuries. That led to seven of the 12 U.S. players competing in their first major 5-on-5 international competition, including Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, the last four WNBA Rookie of the Year award winners. But the veterans supplemented all the "new," led by Jackie Young, Breanna Stewart, Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper and Napheesa Collier. Young, who had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, was Sunday's player of the game. Stewart, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, was MVP of the tournament. Now the WNBA players from all the teams in this tournament head back to finish the regular season and get ready for the playoffs. But here's how Team USA stayed on top of the world and denied France its first World Cup gold. How did Team USA go from trailing by 14 points to winning by 18? Voepel: Defense. France was getting shots it wanted and making them in the first half. That had been the case throughout this tournament, as the French offense had controlled all their previous games. That changed in the second half, as the U.S. women relied both on their individual defensive strengths and ability to switch without losing anything in their matchups. Everything the Americans did in the third quarter defensively was sharper, quicker and more focused. Not surprisingly, forcing France into missed shots and turnovers fueled the American's offense. U.S. coach Kara Lawson is known as a defensive coach at Duke, and U.S. assistant Natalie Nakase guides the WNBA's top defensive team, the Golden State Valkyries. That expertise on the bench and the defensive strengths of the Americans' veterans turned around the game. Stewart told TNT after the game that even when the Americans were down 14, they really weren't rattled. The fact that they cut the deficit to two by halftime -- a big steal by Angel Reese led to a 3-pointer by Clark before the buzzer -- gave the team a boost. And they looked very confident starting the third quarter. Those 10 minutes made all the difference. Did it hurt that France wasn't tested until the gold medal game? Voepel: This wasn't a tight game down to the wire where France might have needed that experience. However, where it perhaps cost the French is that they didn't face a defense as good as what Team USA threw at them in the third quarter. France had been especially good all tournament from behind the arc, and it again reached double-digit 3-pointers with 11 on Sunday. But the French went from 8-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half to 3-of-10 in the second. And Gabby Williams, who had been a force all tournament, went from 16 points in the first half to 4 in the second. Marine Johannes, one of France's main sharpshooters, had just one 3-pointer in the game. How well did Team USA's newcomers play? Voepel: Overall, they did their jobs, and that says a lot when you add in the extra pressure of playing for your country. Tons of eyes were on Clark, of course, and she had a double-double in Team USA's opener vs. China. While she didn't shoot as well from 3-point range as she would have liked during the tournament (7-for-25, 28%), she was 2-of-3 from behind the arc Sunday and 4-of-5 from the field. She finished with 12 points and 3 assists and led Team USA in overall assists for the tournament with 32. Reese also made her presence felt, especially on the defensive end of the court where her size and quick hands flustered foes. Guards Clark and Bueckers don't have anywhere near as much experience at the international level or in playing together as Gray and Young, who have been Las Vegas Aces teammates for six years with three WNBA titles. Which is why Lawson relied more on the vets during the most stressful periods in the Americans' close games -- but gave the youngsters playing time throughout the tournament so that the vets weren't worn out by the gold medal game. Every Team USA basketball coach -- women's and men's -- is always heavily scrutinized in how they balance having so much talent and distributing minutes. In the end, give Lawson credit for how she allowed growth and important court time for the young players but also understood when veteran experience was what Team USA needed most. What does this win mean for Team USA? It's a new era for the world's dominant power in women's basketball, but the same result. USA's last loss in a major international competition was the 2006 World Cup semifinals to Russia. Before that, the most recent American losses were in the 1992 Olympic semifinals to what was then called the Unified Team (essentially the former Soviet Union with an interim name) and the 1994 World Cup semifinals to Brazil. While we already noted the USA's only major competition loss in a gold medal game came in the 1983 World Cup to the Soviet Union, the Americans have one other silver medal. That came in the 1976 Olympics, the first time the Summer Games had women's basketball. But that was a six-team round-robin tournament where the Soviets won by going 5-0. Team USA was 3-2, but took silver thanks to its round-robin win over fellow 3-2 team Bulgaria. All that history is important to illustrate how outstanding Team USA has been in the Olympics and World Cup and to show what an upset it would have been had France taken the gold Sunday. It would have been just the third silver for Team USA. For the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, all these World Cup players could be back in the mix, along with Wilson, Plum and up-and-coming younger standouts such as WNBA rookie Olivia Miles and college stars like JuJu Watkins, Sarah Strong and Hannah Hidalgo. The pipeline for talent continues to be full. What does the loss mean for France? The French wanted this very badly and played great for 5 ½ games in this tournament. But the second half Sunday was like the clock striking midnight on France's hopes. The French just couldn't match Team USA when the Americans went to their next gear. That said, look at the progress France has made internationally and in the WNBA; 13 French players have been on WNBA rosters this season. The sky is the limit for a youngster like Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (21 points, 6 rebounds Sunday). France lost by just one point to the United States in the 2024 Olympic final in Paris, and now gets their its silver in the World Cup. Add that to Spain's bronze medal and host Germany's fourth-place finish, and it's an excellent showing for Europe, whose players have become a significantly bigger factor in helping the WNBA improve its talent level and global footprint. Plus, France and the rest of Europe will be all the more motivated for the Los Angeles Games in two years.