USA Beat Puerto Rico 91-48 at FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying

13 March 2026

USA 91, PUR 48

The USA Basketball Women's National Team moved to 2-0 in its Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament campaign with a 91-48 dispatch of Puerto Rico on Thursday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The USA, who have already qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin by winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, will play Italy on Saturday, before New Zealand (Sunday) and Spain (Tuesday).

View the USA-Puerto Rico box score here.

POSTGAME NOTES

Starting Out: Head coach Kara Lawson employed a second starting line-up of the Women’s World Cup Qualifying, with a starting five of Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Paige Bueckers, Monique Billings and Kiki Iriafen. Bueckers, Billings and Iriafen started for the senior national team for the first time.

Playing Puerto Rico: Playing in front of a near capacity crowd in San Juan, the USA improved to 11-1 versus Puerto Rico in senior national team competitions. The win improves the U.S.’s record to 2-0 versus the Puerto Ricans in Women’s World Cup Qualifying action.

Superfood: It was the Plum show in the first quarter. In the first four minutes of the opening frame, the sharpshooter scored 8 of the U.S.’s first 12 points of the game on 3-for-3 shooting. Puerto Rico called a timeout, trailing 12-3, but it did not matter as the USA raced to a 24-7 lead entering the second quarter. For the game, Plum finished with 12 points (4-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) to go with 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 21 minutes.

Board Work: The USA won the battle on the boards, owning a 49-31 advantage over Puerto Rico. The USA was led by Reese and Iriafen, who had 13 and 5, respectively. Last night, Reese tied the U.S. record for rebounds in a World Cup Qualifying game with 8 (other: Natasha Howard, 8 vs. PUR on 2/12/22). Tonight, her 13 rebounds broke the record and she was the only player in the game with a double-double (10 points).

Everybody Eats: The U.S. had 4 players score double-digit points, led by Bueckers’ 16 (7-12 FG, 2-5 3FG). Joining her with 10-plus was Plum (12; 4-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT), Iriafen (10; 5-5 FG) and Reese (10; 3-6 FG, 4-6 FT). Each of tonight’s double figure scorers upped their point total from the opening game of the tournament versus Senegal.

Last World Cup Qualifiers: In 2022, the USA played a pair of World Cup Qualifying games. The U.S. outscored their opponents in those games by 47 total points (USA def. BEL 84-75 on 2/11/22; USA def. PUR 93-55 on 2/12/22). In two games this year, the Americans have handled business by a margin of 107 points (USA def. SEN 110-46 on 3/11/26; USA def. PUR 91-48 on 3/12/26). Unlike 2022, the USA has three more games remaining in the 2026 qualifying tournament.

End-to-End: Including tonight and two games in 2022, the U.S. have won three games wire-to-wire in Women’s World Cup Qualifying. This evening, the USA scored the first basket on a Bueckers jumper (USA def. PUR 91-48). The other two instances came against Belgium (USA def. BEL 84-75 on 2/11/22) and Puerto Rico (USA def. PUR 93-55 on 2/12/22).

Road to Berlin: By winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, the USA automatically qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Sept. 4-13 in Berlin. The FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournaments, hosted in four different locations on three continents, features six teams playing on a round-robin basis in hope of finishing in the top three to earn a berth to Berlin. The U.S. is chasing a fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal (12th overall).