The United States women’s basketball team carries one of the most dominant dynasties in modern international sports into the knockout round of the FIBA Women’s World Cup, but the path forward is clouded by questions about how its biggest star fits into the lineup. Caitlin Clark has come off the bench in all three group-stage games, and her inconsistent performances have turned Coach Kara Lawson’s rotation into a subject of intense debate as the Americans prepare for the quarterfinals.
The U.S. has won eight consecutive Olympic gold medals and four straight World Cups, and it has not lost at either event since 2006. Three victories in Berlin extended the team’s World Cup winning streak to 33 games, while the Olympic streak stands at 61. The Americans have never lost a quarterfinal game in the FIBA Women’s World Cup, a record they will try to preserve on Thursday. But France and Belgium have looked more dominant than the U.S. in the group stage, raising the stakes for every decision Lawson makes from this point forward.
Clark’s tournament began with a record-setting performance. She finished with 14 points and 11 assists in 25 minutes during a 94-61 win over China, becoming the first American to record 11 assists in a World Cup debut and the first player from any country to post at least 10 assists without a turnover in a World Cup game since FIBA began tracking the statistic in 1994. Clark said after that game that she was prepared to accept a different role than the one she holds with the Indiana Fever. “Being surrounded by five people who have won gold medals before at the highest level, I try to follow their lead and take every bit of wisdom they try to give me,” she said, according to FIBA.
The picture changed dramatically against Italy. Clark played 19 minutes, missed all six of her field-goal attempts, and finished with one point and one assist while committing two turnovers. It was the first time in her college or WNBA career that she failed to make a field goal. Lawson kept Clark on the bench for the final seven minutes as the U.S. relied on veteran guards to erase a late deficit and escape with a 55-52 victory. The Americans shot 29 percent from the field and made only two of 24 attempts from 3-point range. Their 55 points were the fewest in a World Cup game since FIBA introduced the 3-point line in 1984.
Clark rebounded one day later against Czechia, recording nine points and seven assists off the bench in a 105-64 victory that secured first place in Group D. Through three games, she has produced 24 points and 19 assists. But her role remains undefined, and the consequences of Lawson’s choices will grow heavier with tougher competition ahead. If the U.S. falls behind late in the quarterfinals, Lawson will have to decide whether to protect the dynasty with the veterans who built it or put the ball in the hands of the player expected to lead its next generation.
Clark is not the only young star watching from the bench. Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese have also come off the court’s sideline in every game, and many fans have called for all three to start. The trio has spent years colliding in games that helped transform women’s basketball. Clark and Bueckers were teammates on the United States’ 2019 U19 gold-medal team before splitting two NCAA Tournament meetings. UConn won their 2021 Sweet 16 matchup, but Iowa answered with a 71-69 victory in the 2024 Final Four, a game that drew 14.2 million viewers.
Clark and Reese produced the more heated rivalry. Reese helped LSU defeat Clark and Iowa in the 2023 national championship, then celebrated with a hand gesture that sparked a nationwide debate about sportsmanship, race, and double standards. Clark got her revenge in the 2024 Elite Eight, recording 41 points and 12 assists as Iowa defeated LSU despite Reese’s 17 points and 20 rebounds. Reese left college with LSU’s 2023 national title, while Bueckers won her championship with UConn in 2025. Clark never captured the trophy, but she reached consecutive championship games and helped drive the sport to record television audiences.
Now the three players who became famous under the brightest lights are trying to win together, and doing so from Team USA’s bench. Bueckers has been a more consistent scorer than Clark so far, matching her with 14 points in the opener against China and adding four assists and two steals. She then produced one of the strongest all-around performances for the U.S. during its scare against Italy. As America prepares to defend its Olympic dynasty on home soil in 2028, what happens with Clark, Bueckers, and Reese in this next week will be the world’s last impression of how those three gel before the Los Angeles Games.