USA vs Puerto Rico: Full Box Score & Player Stats from 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifier

On Thursday, the 2026 FIBA Women world cup qualifier, the U.S. women basketball team provided an outstanding performance, beating Puerto Rico in a one-sided match 9148. In this game, some of the star players of the American team, such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kelsey Plum, and Rhyne Howard, went to the field as a single team, which guaranteed great victory in the game. This victory made Team USA have a record of 2 goals in the qualifying campaign, which was a great boost to their optimism of qualifying to the next round.

USA Takes Control from the First Quarter

The U.S team played with an aggressive style of play even at the very beginning of the match. During the first quarter alone Team USA had a 24-7 lead thereby establishing the mood of the whole contest. During the second quarter, the U.S. sustained its lead as they scored 22-12 over their opponents by passing, playing defense and shooting accuracy. As the first half came to an end, Puerto Rico was trailing by a margin of 4619, and any form of comeback would have seemed next to impossible.

Powerful Performances from Star Players

A number of players also played key roles in ensuring that the U.S. team was a winner. The most significant contributor to the team was Paige Bueckers who scored 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists having spent only 21 minutes on the field. Kelsey Plum on the other hand had 12 points, which balanced on the offensive attack of the team.
Angel Reese also gave the spectacular all-around performance registering 10 points and 13 rebounds to complete the double-double. Also, Kiki Iriafen had a great game with 10 points with no failure in all 5 field-goal tries. Despite the relatively low score, which Caitlin Clark delivered, she helped sustain the game by scoring 8 points and 2 assists on behalf of the team.

A Struggle for Puerto Rico

Although the Puerto Rican team definitely made a struggle in the match, they could not handle the formidable defense and the pace of the offensive of the U.S. team. In the case of Puerto Rico, Imani McGee-Stafford was the most effective player with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
India Pagagan also scored 9 points and Trinity San Antonio had 8 points. The rest of the players, however, were not able to score much because of the U.S. defense and the total score of the team was not able to exceed 48 points.

A Strong Signal for Future Matches

This win has clearly indicated that Team USA is amongst the strongest competitors in this tournament. The team is a mixture of the young talent and experienced veterans making it perform at a high level. When such a degree of chemistry and cohesion continues, the hopes of the U.S. team to have won the title at the 2026 FIBA Women world cup might be even more realistic. In the meantime, this great win in qualifiers has been used to boost the morale of the team to greater heights.

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