Basketball history was made recently as the USA women’s team managed to break the world cup scoring mark in their 145-69 win against South Korea. It was a lay-up in the last few seconds by Shakira Austin that sealed the deal as the USA managed to beat the previous record of 143 that was set by Brazil.
The Quality in the US
There is a clear correlation between the success of US teams and the popularity of basketball within the country. When you consider the most popular sports played and streamed in the US and how much more popular it is compared to around the world, it makes sense to see this reflected in the quality that gets offered up by US players. The same can be said for the likes of American Football and baseball too, which America also excels in.
There is no doubt that the current US team has one of the most talented and deepest rosters of any team in the entire world cup. Several of the best professional players star on the team, but even with such a good lineup, they have never come close to putting on this kind of performance. Their previous record was nearly 30 points less as they managed to put 119 points away against Angola in 2014, which is a clear reflection of the improved quality that’s on display.
Top Scorers of the Game
One of the highest scorers in the game was Brionna Jones, who put 24 points on the board. On top of that, Wilson managed to score another 20, which helped with reaching the record-breaking total. Wilson commented after the game, “I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a team that can score the basketball like this,” before continuing, “this is crazy, we put up 145 points. I think when you look at us and just knowing how talented we are, we just came together and we play together very, very well”.
Other Records to Break
The recent victory against South Korea marks the 26th in a row for America, which has yet to lose since the 2006 semi-finals against Russia. Interestingly, before that loss, they had also won 26 games in a row. There doesn’t seem to be any stopping the current US team, but they have a long way to go before they beat the record for straight wins in a row, as this is held by the Soviet Union with 56 games between 1959 to 1986.
There’s No Stopping the US
The current women’s US basketball team seems to be almost unstoppable. Their impressive roster of WNBA stars refuses to give any side a chance, which is very clearly reflected in their massive win against South Korea recently. In this game, they managed to top Brazil’s previous record of 143 points in one game as they put 145 away.
At the moment, it seems as though no team is going to be able to hold a candle to the US and as such, they are more than likely going to be the champions this year and for other years to come. That being said, one reason basketball is loved by so many is its unpredictability so who knows what might happen.
