BERLIN — Caitlin Clark had 14 points and 11 assists without a turnover, and Paige Bueckers scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, in the first FIBA Women’s World Cup game the two guards have played together, a 94-61 United States win over China on Friday at Max-Schmeling-Halle.
Clark’s 11 assists in 25 minutes were the most by an American in a World Cup game since Dawn Staley had 12 against Russia in 1998. Staley’s 12 tied Teresa Edwards, who had 12 against China in 1986.
Clark went first overall to the Indiana Fever in 2024, and the Dallas Wings took Bueckers first overall in 2025. Each won Rookie of the Year. The two played together for the first time on the senior national team in March at the World Cup qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the United States went 5-0. Nine of the 12 players on the roster in Berlin were making their World Cup debuts Friday, per AP.
Bueckers went scoreless in the first half. In the third quarter she ended a China fast break with a steal, took the ball the other way, and hit a pull-up jumper, and in the final seconds of the quarter she hit Rhyne Howard with a no-look pass for a 3-pointer that made it 70-42 going into the fourth. Clark’s ninth assist set up a Bueckers jumper with about three minutes left. Howard, Bueckers, and Clark combined to make 8 of the team’s 12 3-pointers, and the United States finished with 26 assists.
Paige Bueckers On Playing Off Caitlin Clark
Bueckers gets to her spots by cutting and playing off the ball when Clark has it. The attention Clark draws lets her teammates get open, and Clark has great vision.
“It’s just organic. We know how to play well off of each other,” Bueckers said. “We’re both smart basketball players who know how to play. And she just makes the game easy.”
Both guards are smart basketball players who know how to play, in Bueckers’ words, and Clark makes the game easy.
“Being able to cut, play off the ball, get to my spots, she draws so much defensive attention,” Bueckers explained. “So a lot of the defense is worried about her. So it lets her teammates get open, and she has great vision.”
The guards around Clark are incredible and so are the bigs, by her description, and facilitating is one of her goals whenever she comes into a game.
“Obviously being around so many talented players, obviously our guards are incredible and our bigs too, but anybody I pass the ball to, it feels like they’re never going to miss a shot,” Clark said. “That’s one of my goals when I come into the game, to facilitate.”
Kara Lawson On The Backcourt Against China’s Zone
U.S. coach Kara Lawson said after the game that Clark and Bueckers played off one another well against the zone China used in the second half. Dallas Sports Journal covered those comments separately.
Bueckers is averaging 20.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists through 38 games for Dallas this season, on 50.6% shooting from the field and 39.7% from three. Clark is averaging 22.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 8.4 assists through 36 games for Indiana. The Wings beat the Fever 91-85 on Aug. 20, with Bueckers and Clark combining to shoot 9-of-31, and the two teams have not met since.
The United States plays Italy on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. CT on TNT and HBO Max.
