For three quarters, Spain had Team USA on the ropes, with the game tied at 58 entering the fourth. Then, with an appearance in the FIBA Women’s World Cup final on the line, one Kahleah Copper play stood out with the kind of physicality that reminded everyone why the US was still the team to beat.
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During the play, Copper took the ball in transition and drove hard toward the rim. In her way stood former Iowa star Megan Gustafson, who was unable to stop Copper’s drive as the guard-forward powered to the rim and finished the play.
The play caught the attention of the WNBA, which reposted the highlight from FIBA’s account on X and captioned it, “GET OUT THE WAY WHEN KAH COMES THRU 💪.”
Gustafson has been one of Spain’s key scoring options throughout the tournament. She averaged 9.6 points per game in just 15.4 minutes per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. She had logged particularly productive outings against Mali and Australia, scoring 16 points in each game. However, she fell short against the US, shooting just 2-for-6 from the field while scoring six points.
Despite this, the game was not an easy one for the Americans. They started the game behind, falling to a 9-1 Spanish run to open the game, but slowly fought their way back. Caitlin Clark and the second unit were key in the team’s comeback efforts, sparking an 11-0 run that eventually gave the US a 20-16 run.
Iyana Martin and Maria Conde led the charge for the Spanish team, scoring 17 points each, but it wasn’t enough. The Americans’ defense stood out down the stretch, while Breanna Stewart, the team’s leading scorer with 16 points, hit four consecutive free throws to help the US build a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. USA won the game 76-66.
Copper and Jackie Young were particularly important in the fourth, combining for 10 points as the US held Spain to just eight points in the final quarter. After the game, Stewart highlighted just how important the effort was against a younger Spanish squad.
“It was really hard for us to pull away into the fourth quarter, but we continued to stick with it,” Stewart said after the game. “We figured out what was working, and defensively we continued to pick it up, quarter by quarter. Spain is a tough team, obviously a young team, but they’re really feisty and energetic.”
Head coach Kara Lawson, who has shown that she is willing to be as harsh as needed, especially after Team USA’s narrow 55-52 escape against Italy, was appreciative of the effort her players showed.
“Just a battle—we knew it would be,” she said in the postgame conference. “When it was winning time, we were the superior team and we deserve to be moving on. We’re excited to be playing in a World Cup final tomorrow. It’s pretty awesome… We were really sharp with our scheme and with our coverages and with our effort to force them into a tough shot.”
Now, with the final game set against the French team, the Americans face a rematch of the 2024 Paris Olympics. While that game was a narrow one-point win for the Americans, they now seem determined to show that it wasn’t a fluke and that, when faced with insurmountable pressure, it takes only one particularly physical sequence – this time from Copper – to give them the fuel they need to run over their opponents.