Italy’s Zone Hands Berlin the Tape on Team USA

Team USA beat Italy 55-52 on Sunday at the FIBA Women’s World Cup, its lowest total in a World Cup win since 1967. Italy’s 2-3 zone did the damage in front of 9,232 at Berlin Arena, and that film is now sitting with every staff still alive in this tournament.

Jackie Young scored 10 points. Cecilia Zandalasini had 14. The Americans missed their first 10 threes before Paige Bueckers made the only one, and they needed a late charge from Chelsea Gray to keep a 32-game World Cup streak intact.

A 15-Point Lead, Then the Zone

The opening quarter looked like the Friday night version of this team. Team USA led 23-8. Then Italy, coached by Andrea Capobianco, switched into a 2-3 zone with changing matchups, and the game changed shape.

Breanna Stewart said Italy “mucked up the game” and made it hard to score. The Americans never found a rhythm against the zone. Gray said they missed layups they have made before. FIBA logged 29 percent shooting at Berlin Arena on 16 of 56 shots, including 1 of 12 from three and 22 of 30 at the line.

Italy shot 31 percent and still won the field-goal count, 18 makes to 16. The visitors lived in the half court, crashed the glass through Lorela Cubaj’s 9 rebounds, and waited for the United States to hurry a bad look.

HOW SUNDAY SLIPPED AWAY

1. Early second quarter: United States up 23-8, a 15-point lead that matched the game’s largest gap.
2. Halftime: Italy’s 16-7 burst cuts it to 30-24 after the zone goes in.
3. Third quarter: An 11-2 Italian run flips the score to 35-32. The Americans take a 42-39 edge into the fourth.
4. 4:29 left: Italy leads 50-48, the third two-point lead it held in the last period.
5. 3:03 left: Gray draws a charge on Zandalasini. Young finishes the next trip.
6. 1:07 left: Gray’s jumper makes it 55-50. Matilde Villa answers. Zandalasini’s three at the horn is short.

USA led for 30 minutes 34 seconds. Italy led for 5:48, with 8 lead changes and 7 ties. That is not a blip. That is a full game plan working for three quarters against the top-ranked team in the world.

Friday’s 94 Points Never Left the Opener

Two nights earlier, the same 12 players dropped 94 on China in a 94-61 win over China at Max-Schmeling-Halle. Caitlin Clark came off the bench for 14 points and 11 assists. Bueckers and Rhyne Howard also scored 14. Young had 12. All 12 Americans scored. They shot 34 of 76 and 12 of 32 from three.

Sunday’s sheet was the inverse. One American reached double figures. Howard played 9 minutes after that 14-point night. Clark played 19 minutes and scored 1 point on 0 of 6 shooting, including 0 of 3 from deep. Kiki Iriafen did not get in. Sonia Citron played 5 minutes.

THE SAME ROSTER, TWO NIGHTS APART

Bueckers’ lone three, with 1:45 left in the third, was the only make from the arc. FIBA noted the United States had missed its first 10 threes before that shot. The free-throw line kept the streak alive. The Americans made 22 free throws to Italy’s 14. Without that gap, the 32-game run is a conversation about a loss.

USA Basketball came in seeking a fifth straight World Cup gold and an 11th title. This roster is built to score in space. Italy took the space away and dared the stars to throw the ball into a crowded paint. They kept throwing it there.

Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray Closed the Night

Stewart missed her first 8 shots and sat on 1 of 9 with 11 rebounds. Her first make, with Young assisting, put the United States up 51-50. That was the game’s last lead change that mattered.

Gray had 4 points on 2 of 5 shooting. The useful work was not the box score. She stepped in front of Zandalasini at 3:03 and took the charge U.S. coach Kara Lawson later called a winning play. Young, 4 of 6 from the field, scored 6 of her 10 points in the fourth and added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 24 minutes. FIBA named her player of the game, the only American in double figures.

Gray’s pull-up at 1:07 made it 55-50 and forced an Italy timeout. Villa scored to cut it to 3. The United States had chances to make it a two-possession game and missed them. Italy had one look to force overtime. Zandalasini’s three did not drop.

You have to be able to win different ways in this tournament because every team stylistically plays a little bit different. You do have to be able to win when you don’t have your fastball. We didn’t have a fastball tonight, but we figured it out late and we’ll grow from it.

Kara Lawson, U.S. coach, after the Italy game

Angel Reese gave them a bench punch with 8 points on 2 of 5 shooting and 4 of 4 free throws, plus 2 blocks in 15 minutes. Aliyah Boston added 6 points in 21 minutes. Kahleah Copper went 0 of 4 from the field and 6 of 6 at the line in 27 minutes. The scoring was a committee. The finishing was two veterans who have won at this level.

A 32-Year Wait and a Missed Three

Italy had not been at a World Cup since 1994, when it finished 11th. Its best finish remains fourth in 1975. Capobianco’s group first World Cup trip in 32 years came through qualifying in March, and the reward in Berlin was a loud crowd and a near miss against the holders.

On March 14 in San Juan, the United States beat these same Italians 93-59. Copper had 15. Five Americans scored in double figures. Zandalasini, a 6-foot-1 forward with the Golden State Valkyries, went 2 of 11 for 6 points in 24 minutes. The gap that night was 34 points. The gap on Sunday was 3.

She scored 14 on 5 of 14 shooting, with 7 rebounds, in 27 minutes. Mariella Santucci added 9. Villa had 6 points in 29 minutes. Cubaj scored 0 on 0 of 3 and still controlled the glass. Ranked 14th in the world and coming off a EuroBasket bronze in 2025, Italy already had a group win over Czechia and, once China beat Czechia in overtime, a path into the next phase.

Italy will also be proud of us too. I am happy that we showed what we are capable of. We waited 32 years to be here and we deserve to be here. We showed that tonight.

Cecilia Zandalasini, Italy forward, to FIBA

She also said the group waited 32 years to be here and tried “the zone with different matchups and switches,” then added that they played with heart. After the buzzer she went at an official over a no-call and later apologized, saying the emotions should have stayed inside. The shot she wanted was the three that would have sent the holders to overtime. It was short. The scouting report was not.

What the Rest of Berlin Saw on the Tape

Group D now reads USA 2-0, Italy 1-1, China 1-1, Czechia 0-2. The Americans are already through to the quarterfinals. Czechia cannot change that on Monday, September 7, at 8:45 p.m. local time in Berlin Arena. Italy plays China the same evening at Max-Schmeling-Halle for second place in the group, which is the difference between a direct quarterfinal and a play-in game.

China had Zhang Ziyu, listed at 7-foot-3, for 13 points in 18 minutes against the United States on Friday and then 3 points against Czechia. That staff now has two reels: one of a 33-point loss when the Americans spaced the floor, and one of Italy holding them under 60 with a zone. Copying the second reel is the obvious homework.

WHAT THE FILM GIVES EVERY RIVAL

• Pack the paint: USA went 16 of 56 and missed the layups Gray later named, so a packed interior is a live bet even against Stewart, Boston, and Reese.
• Take away the three: The holders went 12 of 32 from deep on Friday and 1 of 12 on Sunday. Bueckers was 1 of 1. Everyone else was 0 of 11.
• Live at the line: Italy lost the free-throw count 22-14. A cleaner whistle, or more fouls on Copper’s 6 of 6, changes the math.
• Make the veterans beat you late: Lawson closed with the older group. Italy still had a tying three in the air at the horn.

Australia, Belgium, France, and Spain are not Italy. They do not have to be. They only have to believe the zone that turned a 15-point hole into a one-possession game is portable. The governing body billed Sunday as the best game of the cup so far, which is another way of saying the tape will get watched.

BEST GAME OF THE WORLD CUP YET? 🤯

Italy 🇮🇹 gave USA 🇺🇸 a run for their money, but the reigning champs kept composure 🔥#FIBAWWC pic.twitter.com/hQyoBzWWGb

— FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWWC) September 6, 2026

Lawson Trusted the Veterans With the Finish

Lawson, the Duke coach running this U.S. side, started Gray, Young, Copper, Stewart, and Napheesa Collier. Clark, Bueckers, and Howard all came off the bench. A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum are not on this roster; Citron and Iriafen were the replacements, and Iriafen’s night was a DNP. Lawson had said in early September the staff did not have time to worry about who was missing.

The rotation fight after the game was loud for a reason. Clark’s 1-point night followed a debut in which she said anyone she passed to felt like they would not miss. On Sunday she never got a long enough stretch to set that same table. Howard’s minutes collapsed. The closing stretch belonged to Young, Gray, Stewart, and the other veterans Lawson said came through when it was winning time.

SUNDAY’S SCORING, SUCH AS IT WAS

• Jackie Young: 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting, the only U.S. player in double figures.
• Angel Reese: 8 points, 4 of 4 at the line, 2 blocks off the bench.
• Paige Bueckers: 7 points, the only made three, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
• Caitlin Clark: 1 point, 0 of 6, 0 of 3 from three, 19 minutes.

Lawson said the test was useful because it showed the weak spots. She also said every game in this tournament feels like a scrap, and that if a team is not ready it will lose. That is the part that travels. The United States can still win when it shoots 16 of 56. Italy just showed the rest of the field how to make that the whole night.

Monday’s game with Czechia will not settle whether the zone travels. The knockout games will. The Americans are 2-0 and still unbeaten at this World Cup since a 2006 semifinal loss to Russia. They also just handed every remaining opponent a 40-minute lesson in how to take the fastball away.