Kara Lawson’s Take on Team USA Win vs Hungary Bodes Well for World Cup Gold Quest
Team USA responded to its narrow 55-52 win over Italy and to falling below France in the FIBA power rankings with another dominant group-phase win over Czechia and an equally dominant quarterfinals victory over Hungary.
After beating Hungary 108-56, Team USA is now awaiting the outcome of Spain vs. Australia later today to see who they will be going up against in the semifinals. Either team will pose a significant challenge with plenty of WNBA talent and experience. If the U.S. wins that game and moves on to the final, France or Belgium is most likely to be its opponent in the toughest game of the tournament.
With two big games coming up, it’s good timing for Team USA to start playing great, fluid basketball—especially after that early scare against Italy.
“This was one of our most complete performances of the tournament,” head coach Kara Lawson said after the game, per a video on the FIBA Media YouTube channel. “Defensively, we were active, forced a lot of turnovers. I was really pleased by that. And then offensively, we as coaches love when they share the ball, and they did that at just a high level.”
Team USA put on a show against Hungary
Hungary’s guards and wings shot it well from the 3-point line, and 18-year-old Kinga Josepovitis showed some promise with perfect shooting from the field on her way to 9 points. But Team USA managed to hold Minnesota Lynx forward Dorka Juhasz to just 2 points on 1-12 shooting from the field.
Offensively, Kara Lawson’s squad got everyone involved. Every player got minutes and scored. Napheesa Collier led the way with 19 points on 9-13 shooting.
Napheesa Collier led the charge 💪
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 10, 2026
She finished with 19 PTS & 7 REB while going 9-13 from the field to help @usabasketball achieve the Quarter-Finals win against Hungary!#USABWNT | #FIBAWWC pic.twitter.com/d71wINMAPG
Rhyne Howard added 15 points, and Kahleah Copper, Caitlin Clark, and Jackie Young all scored 10 points each. Clark also added 9 assists, and Chelsea Gray dished out six.
Angel Reese and Aliyah Boston, meanwhile, were big on the boards and defensively, combining for 10 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks off the bench.
Team USA was firing on all cylinders on both ends of the floor, shooting 62.2% on two-pointers and 52.2% from deep while holding Hungary to just 36.1% shooting from inside the arc and scoring 44 points off turnovers.
Hungary put together some good performances throughout the tournament, but it just does not pose the same challenge as Australia, Spain, France, and Belgium when they’re at their best. Those teams have WNBA-level talent to rival Team USA’s roster—especially France with two All-Stars in Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga—and experience winning together on big stages. Most of the players on France’s roster, for example, all won silver together at the Paris Olympics in 2024 and gave the U.S. everything it could handle, and Belgium just won EuroBasket two years in a row.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.