The U.S. ladies’s nationwide group is in Berlin, the place it is going to try to increase its dominance in worldwide competitors. Enjoyable reality: the U.S. hasn’t misplaced an official worldwide match since 2006 – 20 years in the past.

It’s an excellent custom, and this yr, Duke coach Kara Lawson is driving the practice.

Staff USA opened in opposition to China, with 7-3 heart Zhang Ziyu on Friday, and the sport was by no means shut – not even when China paired Zhang with 6-10 Han Xu. There was no comparability between the groups, at the very least not on Friday, because the U.S. rolled to a 94-61 win.

There was a little bit of controversy when Lawson opted to not begin Caitlin Clark (and Paige Bueckers), however her job is to not begin fan favorites, however to win. To this point, she’s passing that check properly.

Clark ended up with 11 assists and Lawson praised her for altering the tempo of the sport.

Placing collectively a group like that is difficult, however Lawson isn’t the primary Duke coach to take action, clearly, and we’d count on she sought out recommendation from former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who in fact gained gold with the lads’s group in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

On Sunday, the U.S. squares off with Italy. Sport time is 2:45 p.m. EST.