“We have to be able to set the tone and set an example,” Napheesa Collier said about herself and Breanna Stewart when she was asked about an aggressive response from Team USA against Czechia on Monday after a poor performance against Italy. Collier and Co. were playing their last game of the group stage on a back-to-back night following what was one of Team USA’s worst performances in the last 50 years.

“I thought it was a great response that we had from yesterday’s game. We didn’t shoot well. We weren’t happy with our performance yesterday, really on either side, came with the mindset that ‘We are going to play as hard as we can and gonna be aggressive,'” Napheesa Collier said to start the postgame conference.

The veteran starters set the tone very early in the game, playing aggressively on both ends. Napheesa Collier and Stewart combined for the team’s first eight points. They combined for 31 points, with Stewart scoring a game-high 19 points while shooting 72.7% from the field. Collier added that the veteran stars had shifted their strategy for Monday’s matchup.

“For Stewie and I, we are gonna be facilitators as well. We are two of the older people on the team, and we have a lot of young people. So, this first group, when we go out, we have to be able to set the tone and set an example. That’s the mindset that we came into the game with.”

The veteran duo also contributed for eight assists combined. But their early attack on both ends had already set the tone that the Americans were able to maintain throughout the game. The rest of the squad followed their veterans’ lead. As a team, they shot 52.5% from the field and six of their players scored 10+ points.

After a 55-52 win over Italy, Team USA head coach Kara Lawson had been critical of her team’s lack of passion and aggression. After a dominating win over Czechia, she was happy with her team’s response.

“When you have a performance that you are not pleased with, the best thing to do is be honest and look at the areas that you can improve and grow and get better. I thought that we did that tonight.”

They won all of the four quarters and led the contest for 39:09 minutes in total. During the fourth quarter, on two separate occasions, the Americans led the game by a margin of 43 points.  The 105-64 score on the board was Team USA’s response to the previous performance and perhaps a reminder to themselves that they were the best team in the world.

The Americans were also eagerly waiting for Monday’s matchup after Italy’s game. According to Caitlin Clark, Team USA was pretty excited that they had back-to-back games allowed them to come out with a brutal reply.

“We wanted to come out here, and we were all excited that we kind of had a back-to-back and could get out here and play again. Obviously, after last night, we didn’t play our best. It wasn’t great at all,” Caitlin Clark told TNT after the game.

The Indiana Fever star was their most impactful player in the game against China, leading her team in both points and assists. In her second game, she missed all of her six shots and added just one assist. On Monday, she had 9 points, 7 assists, and +22 in plus/minus (second highest on the team).

As the Americans go 3-0 in the group stage, bigger tests await them. They will face either Hungary or Japan in the quarterfinal. Considering that they reach the final and face France in the gold medal game, it won’t be easy to beat them, especially with A’ja Wilson out. But they are still the deepest team in the World Cup. If Lawson can use the talent strategically, they may win their fifth consecutive title.