It didn’t matter that it’s her World Cup debut or that her WNBA teammate wore the opposing group’s uniform; Napheesa Collier was unstoppable.

The previous UConn ladies’s basketball star dominated on each ends of the ground to steer Staff USA to its 12^th consecutive World Cup semifinal look.

Because of Collier’s game-high 19 factors, america shut down fellow former Husky star and Collier’s Minnesota Lynx teammate Dorka Juhász to defeat Hungary, 108-56, in Thursday’s World Cup quarterfinals in Berlin, Germany.

The People will face the winner of Spain-Australia (2:30 p.m. on Thursday) in Saturday’s semifinal (2 p.m. ET) for an opportunity to maneuver on to Sunday’s gold-medal sport.

Led by Collier, 5 gamers completed in double-digit scoring for Staff USA. Caitlin Clark dished out a game-high 9 assists, whereas Collier, Kahleah Copper and Angel Reese every completed with six rebounds.

Fellow Huskies Breanna Stewart (eight factors, three rebounds, two assists) and Paige Bueckers (seven factors, three assists, one rebound and one steal) have been two of 10 gamers with 5 factors or extra for the U.S.

“We have been transferring the ball loads. It wasn’t one-on-one,” Collier advised ESPN after the sport. “We have been on the lookout for an awesome shot, not only a good shot, and so after we play that manner, it is actually enjoyable. And I really feel like our chemistry is constructing every sport.”

Hungary, which final reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 1986 (additionally misplaced to the U.S.), was led by Reka Lelik with 12 factors and Juhász with a game-high eight rebounds. Juhász, who was named the EuroLeague MVP in April, averaged double-doubles in Hungary’s first 4 video games of this yr’s match, however completed Thursday’s sport with simply two factors on 1-of-12 taking pictures for her worst efficiency of the match.

The USA punched first and punched laborious to open Thursday’s quarterfinals. Collier set the tone on each ends. First, the Minnesota Lynx celebrity blocked her WNBA teammate, Juhász, two minutes into the sport. Then, Collier went off on offense and scored a game-high 10 factors within the first 10 minutes.

Hungary couldn’t sustain and didn’t defend Collier’s signature step-back fadeaway as the previous Husky put the U.S. up by 20 with slightly over a minute left within the body because of her go-to shot. Stewart additionally acquired in on the enjoyable, even scoring the primary bucket of the day. The previous UConn teammates mixed for 9 of Staff USA’s first 13 factors, 15 of its first 36 and 17 of its first 59.

The U.S. used an 18-3 run to interrupt open the sport within the first quarter and efficiently shut down Juhász early. The Hungary star, who led all gamers with 5 rebounds at halftime, missed her first seven pictures and didn’t rating her first basket till the two:26 mark within the second quarter.

Staff USA pressured Juhász and Hungary’s total frontcourt laborious within the paint. Because of its aggressive protection and Collier and Stewart, the U.S. had extra factors within the paint (32) than Hungary (30) had complete factors at halftime (Staff USA led 32-4 within the paint at intermission).

The People led by as a lot as 34 within the first half, scoring 25 factors off Hungary’s 14 first-half turnovers and taking pictures 65% from the ground.

“I really feel like at the moment was a extremely good one for us,” Collier advised ESPN. “We labored on some defensive schemes that we wished to get higher at, some offensive stuff that we wished to scrub up, and so I really feel like we went out and executed that.”

Collier, who completed 9-of-13 from the ground with six rebounds, chipped in 9 extra factors within the first six minutes of the third quarter to push the U.S.’s result in over 40. Her 19 complete factors marked her best-ever when taking part in for Staff USA’s senior nationwide group in a non-qualifying occasion. She was named the TCL Participant of the Recreation

Thursday’s win extends Staff USA’s World Cup win streak to 34 straight video games throughout the final 20 years. The People completed Thursday with a 59 discipline aim proportion, 42 rebounds, 17 steals and 44 factors off Hungary’s 27 turnovers. Staff USA outscored Hungary 52-16 within the paint. The U.S.’s 31 assists set the document for probably the most in a World Cup quarterfinal sport.

After ending group part 3-0, the U.S. saved its greatest for the knockout spherical. Its 108 factors and 52-point win towards Hungary marked Staff USA’s highest-scoring sport and largest margin of victory thus far on this yr’s World Cup. The victory additionally marked the highest-scoring level complete in a World Cup quarterfinals sport, as Staff USA’s 59 first-half factors additionally set a document for many first-half factors within the World Cup quarterfinals.