Team USA wins the gold

The USA took down Australia 73-56 and took home their third-straight FIBA Women's World Cup gold medal today.

The USA began play with a 10-0 run and kept the lead all the way.

Australian defense held the USA to only 33% field goal shooting, but also committed 24 fouls, which gave the USA 17 points in free throws.

But USA defense (primarily Brittney Griner) held Liz Cambage (the tournament's leading scorer with 23.8 points per game) to just seven points on 20% shooting and three free throws.

With Cambage stifled, Australia called on its bench.

Alanna came in for 18 minutes and responded with the team-high 10 points, two blocks, an assist and a steal.

Nneka was not a major factor in the USA's victories, but, as one of the game commentators said today, "She played her role as center off the bench to perfection." For the tournament she averaged 7.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 15 minutes per game.

Breanna Stewart officially is MVP of Everything after winning the Tissot MVP of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 trophy, and she was joined in the All-Star Five by Diana Taurasi, Astou Ndour (Spain), Emma Meesseman (Belgium), and Liz Cambage. Honorable mention, Brittney Griner, was TCL Player of the Game in the Final.

USA crowned world champions for third time in a row, secure Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ticket, FIBA game report.

U.S. women beat Australia to win third straight World Cup title, Associated Pres game report.

USA Downs Australia to Claim Third-Straight FIBA World Cup Gold, USA Basketball game report.

Silver medal caps incredible FIBA World Cup campaign for ... Opals, Basketball Australia game report.

World Cup semifinals

USA 93, Belgium 77

Belgium, in its first-ever FIBA Women's World Cup gave the USA almost more than it could handle for 25 minutes. The score was tied nine times — the last time midway through the third quarter at 51-51.

Then the USA's superior depth became a major factor and the Belgian women couldn't match the pace for the remaining 15 minutes.

Taurasi shines as holders USA slip past Belgium to make 11th Final, FIBA game report

USA Advances to FIBA World Cup Gold Medal Game With 93-77 Win Over Belgium, USA Basketball game report

Australia 72, Spain 66

Spain started out cold and gave up a 16-point lead to Australia in the first three minutes of the game. But they pulled themselves together and led by one at the end of the half,

All of Spain's defensive efforts couldn't slow down Liz Cambage, who got 33 points and 15 rebounds.

Cambage and Opals break Spanish hearts to set up Final against USA, FIBA game report

FIBA World Cup gold medal beckoning Australia after semifinal comeback vs Spain, Basketball Australia game report

Gold Medal Game

The gold medal game is at noon PT on Sunday. It will be televised by ESPN.

Can Team USA topple Liz Cambage, Australia in gold-medal game?, by Mechelle Voepel (espnW)

Will the Opals beat USA to the Women's World Cup title? 5 reasons why they can

World Cup quarterfinals

USA 71, Nigeria 40

Nigeria, the first African nation to reach a quarterfinal in World Cup history, came out blazing and led by eight points at the end of the first quarter. But they couldn't sustain the pressure and the USA gained control and went on to a sizeable victory.

U.S. tops Nigeria in Women's Basketball World Cup quarterfinals , theAssociated Press game report.

Defense Propels USA Past Nigeria, 71-40, and Into Semifinals, the USA Basketball game report.

The USA will play Belgium in the semifinals at 9:30am PT on Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPNEWS.

Australia 83, China 42

Australia led all the way in their quarterfinal game. Alanna contributed seven points, five rebounds. two assists and a block to the victory.

... Opals stay hot with QF win over China at FIBA World Cup, the Basketball Australia game report.

Australia will play Spain (which upset Canada in the quarterfinals) in the semifinals at noon PT on Saturday. The game will be streamed to ESPN+.

World Cup quarterfinals preview

Mechelle Voepel (espnW) previews all four quarterfinals in: Nneka Ogwumike leads U.S. women into FIBA World Cup quarterfinals

USA/Nigeria leads off the quarterfinals very early on Friday morning at 3:00am PT. The game will be streamed to ESPN3, and televised later at 11:00am PT on ESPNU.

Preview from USA Basketball: USA vs. Nigeria.

The Australia/China game follows at 6:00am PT. It will be streamed to ESPN+.

Preview from Basketball Australia": Australia vs China

You can watch any of the games later. They're all archived on YouTube. You can find the links here.

Shannon's busy, rewarding summer

.@shanncoff » HumBio major🤓, Cardinal center🏀 and Stanford Center for Clinical Research intern👩‍⚕️.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/nikz7FvnVk

— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) September 26, 2018

World Cup great experience for Alanna

Alanna and a half dozen other college players are getting quite the education on the court playing against the best players at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

Tara is happy about Alanna's getting the opportunity to play.

"Alanna is a senior and one of our leaders and we’re going to depend on her a lot this season," she said. "For her to have this experience playing alongside and against the world's best players is absolutely invaluable and the lessons she's learning will serve our team well. We’ve been having some great workouts and can't wait to get her back on campus and in the mix."

Read more by Doug Feinberg (AP): College players get education on court at women’s World Cup

Women's World Cup, day 3

The USA and Australia wrapped up group play with dominating wins today.

Australia 90, Turkey 64

Game report from Basketball Australia: ... Opals advance directly to FIBA World Cup quarter-finals

USA 102, Latvia 76

Brittney Griner was back on the court today, while Sue Bird and Elena Della Donne got a rest.

Seven of the ten USA players scored in double digits. Nneka scored 10 points and added five rebounds.

Game report from USA Basketball: USA Downs Latvia 102-76 to Wrap Up Group Play

Medal play begins on Friday. Pairings, times and television coverage will be announced on Wednesday after the last four qualifiers for the quarter-finals have been determined.

Women's World Cup, day 2

Australia and the USA chalked up their second wins in group play today — an easy one for Australia against #15 Argentina and a challenging one for the USA against #10 China.

Australia 84, Argentina 43

Alanna was one of Australia's four double-digit scorers. She tallied ten points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Game report from Basketball Australia:Argentina no match for ... Opals at 2018 FIBA World Cup

USA 100, China 88

This tough win was made more so by the absence of Brittney Griner, who is day-to-day with an ankle injury.

Game report from USA Basketball:USA Earns Hard-Fought 100-88 Win Over China

Group play wraps up on Tuesday with Australia facing its strongest group opponent (#7 Turkey) and the USA its weakest (#26 Latvia). Regardless of the outcome, both have already won places in the quarter-finals.

Women's World Cup, day 1

As expected, the USA and Australia had a fairly easy first day of group play against their weaker opponents.

Australia 86, Nigeria 68

Game report from Basketball Australia: ... Opals shine in opening game of FIBA World Cup

Tomorrow's game should be somewhat more challenging for the Opals. They play Argentina, whose FIBA world ranking is #15 (Australia is #4).

USA 87, Senegal 67

Nneka had a perfect shooting day — 6 of 6 field goals and 4 of 4 free throws. Her 16 points were second to Elena Della Donne's 19 for the USA.

Game report from USA Basketball: USA Opens FIBA World Cup with 87-67 Victory Over Senegal

The USA will face its toughest group opponent tomorrow — China, which is ranked #10 (the USA is #1).

Nneka and Alanna and the World Cup

The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup begins tomorrow in Tenerife, Spain.

Two Stanford hoopsters will participate — alumna Nneka Ogwumike ('12) with USA Basketball and senior Alanna Smith ('19) with Basketball Australia.

This will be Nneka's second appearance in the Women's World Cup. She was on the 2014 team that won the gold medal,

Alanna played for Basketball Australia in the FIBA U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups, but this is her first Women's World Cup. She is one of the players making her debut featured by FIBA in: Our 12 exciting players ready to take their first #FIBAWWC footsteps

Australia have been one of the first nations to confirm their final roster for the event and Smith was always likely to be a lock after what she produced at her first senior tournament last year. The forward was superb at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup and while disappointed her team were edged out in agonizing fashion by Japan in the title game, Smith had to be satisfied with a productive 10.8 points and 5.3 boards per outing. She is one of the most exciting players that are pushing the Opals into a new chapter and we already know her skills from her displays at the FIBA U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups.

All of the games will be streamed to ESPN+ (an ESPN service that costs $4.99 a month) and to LiveBasketball.TV (A service that costs $9.99 a month). The quarterfinals and semifinals will be on one of the ESPN channels to be determined and the finals will be carried by ESPN.

The USA and Australia are in different groups, so they won't meet (if at all) until the playoffs.

Follow all the action on the FIBA World Cup website. Note that you may choose to have game times shown in your local time.

Read more:

• From USA Basketball: 2018 USA Basketball Women’s World Cup Team Officially Unveiled


• From Basketball Australia: Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals ready to begin 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup campaign


• From Stanford Athletics: Ogwumike on USA Roster


• From the WNBA: 10 Things to Know About the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup