USA holds off Spain, will play France for FIBA Women's World Cup gold: Highlights - USA Today

Team USA moved past Spain in the semifinals of the FIBA Women's World Cup, 76-66, on Saturday, Sept. 12, in Berlin, Germany.

The U.S. will face France in an Olympic gold medal game rematch on Sunday.

Team USA won the fourth quarter, 18-8, over Spain and that was the difference. They extended their World Cup winning streak to 35 games and will play for their fifth straight gold medal.

Breanna Stewart finished with 17 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block to lead Team USA. Kahleah Copper added 13 points. Jackie Young came up huge with six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

"Just continue to do the little things. Honing in on the rebounding, making sure that we were getting to the offensive glass," Stewart said of the victory. "Defensively, we picked it up in the second half, but you know, this is gonna be challenging. Obviously, we got the biggest one tomorrow, but that's why we're here. We're going for gold, and that's what we're gonna do."

Iyana Martin and Maria Conde had 17 points each for Spain.

The United States will play France, which it beat by one point at the 2024 Paris Olympics, on at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 13 (TBS, truTV, HBO Max). The French have eight WNBA players, led by former UConn star and current Golden State Valkyrie forward Gabby Williams.

"Tough one. They're a really tough team," Stewart said. "They're shooting the (expletive) out of the ball this tournament, but we have a quick turnaround and you know we were all locked in on Spain right now. So now, in about 30 minutes, we'll flip the page for France."

Jackie Young now has 10 points, the third player in double figures, and the United States has a 10-point lead, 74-64, with 2:33 to go. Can the United States close it out?

Don't blink. The semifinal game between the United States and Spain. The USA holds just a six-point lead, 66-60, with 6:24 remaining. Spain's leading scorer, Iyana Martin, also just picked up her fourth foul. Buckle up, folks.

Just like everyone drew it up, it's tied after three quarters, 58 all. Spain outscored the United States 22-19 to pull even ahead of the final frame. Guard Iyana Martin is to 17 points to lead all scorers. Breanna Stewart has 12 for the United States.

The Americans are shooting just 39% from the floor, while Spain continues to shoot above 40%. Turnovers are also an issue. The United States has 14 to Spain's 11. There's just one quarter left between the gold medal game.

Iyana Martin's speed is a serious issue for the United States. She has exploited multiple mismatches, especially when bigs are matched on her to get downhill so fast. She has 13 points to lead all scorers.

It's not much, but the United States has a six-point lead, 51-45, at the halfway point of the third quarter. Breanna Stewart is now in double digits with 12 points to lead the field.

The second half of Spain vs USA is underway in Berlin. Spain opened up the third with a triple, but the United States answered, and now the sides are trading baskets at the seven-minute mark. United States leads 46-45.

It's a one-possession game at the half for the United States and Spain. The Americans lead by three after two, shooting 35% from the field. Spain's fouls are saving them. The United States has shot 27 free throws to Spain's 12.

No one for either team is in double figures. Iyana Martin leads Spain with eight points and two steals. Breanna Stewart also has eight points. She also has a block. The United States only has six assists and 14 points in the paint.

USA head coach Kara Lawson described her team’s first-half performance as “uncharacteristic.” The Americans had eight turnovers between the first two quarters and went 19-of-27 from the free throw line.

“We just have to be a little more precise in coverages and where our help is. (Spain) makes you pay when you’re not precise,” Lawson said. “We did get to the free throw line, but we missed more than usual. I feel like we left some points out there on the floor, but I know we will be aggressive and stay confident here in the second half.”

The United States has 25 free throws to keep it in the game. The Americans are 2-for-8 from from the 3-point line after doing well from behind the arc against Hungary.

At the 3:33 mark of the second quarter, Jackie Young was accidentally poked in the left eye by Iyana Martin. Young remained down for several moments before getting to her feet. She drained one of her two free throws before Martin checked out with two fouls.

Chelsea Gray is back and playing at the World Cup, but she has a bandage under her right eye.Rhyne Howard checked in at the 7:59 mark of the first quarter after Gray appeared to take contact to her face, injuring her upper cheek.

Today's World Cup matchup is certainly living up to the hype if you like turnover battles. Spain has nine turnovers. The United States has eight turnovers. The defense is physical and causing a lot of empty possessions.

You have to see this 3-pointer from Spain's Iyana Martin. It logically makes no sense, and somehow, it still went in. There was nothing Jackie Young could do. Martin is up to seven points in the ball game.

Like in the Italy game, Napheesa Collier is in foul trouble. She has two fouls early, at the 7:06 mark of the second quarter. That's something to keep in mind as FIBA play only allows five total fouls in a game.

Spain got off to a hot start, but the United States answered with a 14-2 run to take the lead and end the first quarter. The United States is rolling, with eight players scoring. Rhyne Howard led the group with five points They are shooting 43% from the field while Spain shoots 47%.

Spain has seven turnovers. Marina Conde and Awa Fam lead the team with five points each.

The USA has rattled off an 8-0 run to get in front 17-16 with 1:40 remaining in the first quarter. The "young and turnt" crew checked in, and the defense and tempo went up. Spain now has five turnovers.

USA is picking up the pace. With 2:51 remaining in the first quarter, Caitlin Clark found her Fever teammate Aliyah Boston under the basket with a perfect pass for an easy layup to cut USA’s deficit to one possession, 16-13.

Spain's defense is giving the United States issues. The Americans already have three turnovers in the first quarter. There's still roughly half a quarter to go. Spain's defensive pressure is creating issues.

Rhyne Howard has checked in at the 7:59 mark after Chelsea Gray appeared to take contact to her face, injuring her upper cheek. The injury is on the right side of her face.

Spain has a 11-4 lead against the USA less than three minutes into the contest. Awa Fam got the scoring started early with a triple, and then the buckets started coming after that. Four Spain players scored at the seven-minute mark.

Spain opened Saturday’s semifinal against USA with a statement. USA’s Kahleah Copper drove to the basket in the opening minute of the matchup, but was denied by Spain’s Raquel Carrera with 9:46 remaining.

The game has tipped off in Berlin, Germany. USA won the tip, but Awa Fam scored the game's first points, a triple from deep.

Team USA head coach Kara Lawson isn't making any changes to her starting lineup. She's sticking with the same unit that has started all four games in the tournament:

Breanna Stewart is averaging 9.8 points, seven rebounds and 2.8 assists through four games this tournament. She’s shooting 48.4% from the field and 33.3% from the 3-point line. Stewart’s best game came in USA's 105-64 win over Czechia on Sept. 7 with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 17 minutes.

Spanish center Megan DiLeo, who also played college ball at Iowa and won player of the year honors, asked if having Clark come off the bench is an advantage for her team.“I don’t think so,” DiLeo said. “I think she’s just a great player. It doesn’t really matter when she goes into the game. She’s going to make a good impact.

“We just got to be ready for her and for the rest of the roster. They’re talented. They’re deep. It kind of doesn’t really matter who comes in. We just have to be at our top defensively and offensively.”

How cool is this? Caitlin Clark and Rhyne Howard of team USA sent well wishes and good vibes to Nelly Korda and Alison Lee, who are playing at the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands. Korda and Lee returned the favor by shouting out USA Basketball and wishing them good luck.

"Nerves kicking in? @S10Bird and I are still friends… for now," Spain native and NBA legend Pau Gasol posted on social media Saturday from Berlin. Gasol also shared a photo of managing director of the USA Women's National Team, Sue Bird.

"The semifinal has proved through history of time, that's the game you gotta take care of," Candace Parker said Saturday. "So I think USA, they refocused after that Italy game, and sometimes it's great to have a mirror game ... to be able to right the wrong before you go into elimination (games)."

“I maybe haven't come off the bench in a really long time in my career,” Caitlin Clark said.

“I don't know when the last time (was). But it becomes normal to you. You find your role, you find your rhythm and, you know, I feel like it's been pretty easy for myself. But yeah, you just try to find any little ways you can help the team.”

Clark isn't shooting as well as she typically does (32.3% from the field). However, she had a double-double (14 points, 11 assists) against China to open World Cup play and a near double-double against Hungary on Sept. 10 (10 points, nine assists.

Clark is averaging seven assists across four matchups, which leads Team USA. That average is also on pace to potentially breaks Dawn Staley's United States record (5.8 assists per game) set in 1998.

“It’s amazing,” Spain center Megan DiLeo said about Saturday's semifinal matchup against the United States. “We’re super pumped to play USA. I wanted them from the beginning. So, I’m just glad. We got it circled.”

After beating Germany 86-64, France secured its spot in the World Cup final on Sunday. France forward Gabby Williams led the way with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The winner of Saturday's semifinal game between Spain and the U.S. will play France. The French, who are playing in the World Cup final for the first time in the country's history, ended a 73-year medal drought at the tournament. They are now guaranteed to make the podium for the first time since the World Cup began in 1953.

The Spain national team is wearing awesome custom shirts ahead of its matchup against the United States on Saturday. The shirt has the names of 21 players who helped the team get to this point and has a special phrase across the top ― "El Mundial de Todas" ― that loosely translates to "The World Cup of Everyone" or "Everyone's World Cup".

In 11 games played against the United States, Spain has never beaten the country. On Saturday, looks to change that.

Team USA faces off against Spain in the semifinal round of the FIBA Women’s World Cup at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Berlin Arena in Berlin, Germany.

TNT has the exclusive U.S. English-language rights. All games are streaming on HBOMax. Seventeen of those games air on TNT and truTV, including every U.S. game.

The third-place game and final will be held on Sunday, Sept. 13 (TNT, truTV, HBO Max).