<\/p>\n
Spain’s Megan DiLeo looks to shoot against Germany’s Leonie Fiebich during a Women’s World Cup basketball game between Germany and Spain, in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Andreas Gora\/dpa via AP)<\/p>\n
Andreas Gora\/Andreas Gora\/DPA via AP<\/p>\n
Germany’s Alexis Peterson in action during a Women’s World Cup basketball game between Germany and Spain, in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Andreas Gora\/dpa via AP)<\/p>\n
Andreas Gora\/Andreas Gora\/DPA via AP<\/p>\n
Spain’s Awa Fam reaches for a ball against the defense of Germany’s Leonie Fiebich during a Women’s World Cup basketball game between Germany and Spain, in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Andreas Gora\/dpa via AP)<\/p>\n
Andreas Gora\/Andreas Gora\/DPA via AP<\/p>\n
The Japanese team acknowledges fans after the women’s World Cup basketball match between Mali and Japan, in Berlin Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Andreas Gora\/dpa via AP)<\/p>\n
Andreas Gora\/Andreas Gora\/DPA via AP<\/p>\n
United States’ Caitlin Clark holds the trophy for the player of the game during the Women’s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ebrahim Noroozi\/AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi<\/p>\n
BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Saki Hayashi and Japan set records for three-pointers on the first day of the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup while Caitlin Clark also starred on her tournament debut for the United States on Friday.<\/p>\n
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Hayashi scored nine three-pointers to beat the previous record of eight as she helped Japan to a 102-97 win over Mali. Altogether, Japan scored 20 to beat its shared team record from 1994.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Mali led for most of the game before Mai Yamamoto brought Japan level for the first time at 79-79 with 6:30 left in the final quarter. Kokoro Tanaka completed the scoring with a free throw.<\/p>\n
Aminata Sangare contributed 22 points for Mali. Her team had been looking for its second-ever World Cup win after beating Senegal in overtime in the 2010 tournament. Mali lost all five games at the last World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\n
US overcomes 7-foot-3 Zhang<\/p>\n Clark had 14 points and 11 assists to help the U.S. beat China, which was led by 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu, 94-61 in its opener at the Max-Schmelling-Halle. It was the same Berlin venue where the U.S. defeated Russia in the final for the 1998 title, the country\u2019s sixth.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Rhyne Howard also scored 14 points and Jackie Young added 12 for the Americans, who have won 31 consecutive World Cup games dating to a loss in the 2006 semifinals.<\/p>\n They next turn attention to Italy on Saturday as they bid for a fifth consecutive title.<\/p>\n France serves warning<\/p>\n France lived up to its billing as one of the favorites with a comprehensive 99-53 win over Hungary.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dominique Malonga, Gabby Williams and Marine Johannes each scored 17 points for the Olympic silver medalist.<\/p>\n Spain too strong for the host<\/p>\n Awa Fam led Spain to another win over Germany, contributing 17 points in a dominant 83-53 victory.<\/p>\n Despite vocal support from home fans in the 14,000-seat Berlin Arena, Germany did not lead at any stage and has failed to beat Spain in eight competitive meetups.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Leonie Fiebich scored 13 points to lead Germany, followed by Nyara Sabally with 10.<\/p>\n Spain next plays Mali on Saturday, when Germany faces Japan.<\/p>\n Australia starts with a win<\/p>\n Steph Talbot scored 19 points as Australia defeated Puerto Rico 70-54.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Australia lost its opening games at the last World Cup and at the Olympics, so the victory takes the pressure off coach Sandy Brondello\u2019s team with the four group winners in the expanded 16-team tournament progressing straight to the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n Australia next faces Turkey on Sunday.<\/p>\n Belgium uses big third quarter to top Turkey<\/p>\n Emma Meesseman had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead European champion Belgium to the 89-75 victory. She scored nine of those points in the final two minutes of the third quarter as Belgium outscored Turkey 27-9 in the third period. Turkey held a 45-44 lead at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Kennedy Burke scored 15 points to lead Turkey.<\/p>\n Italy’s triumphant return<\/p>\n Cecilia Zandalasini led Italy to its first World Cup win upon its return to the tournament after 32 years, 63-54 over the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s wait since 1994 was a team\u2019s longest for appearances at the competition.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Zandalasini had 19 points, five rebounds and three assists.<\/p>\n Also, Park Ji-hyun scored 27 to lead South Korea to a 99-81 opening victory over Nigeria.<\/p>\n ___ AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \n See AP\u2019s full WNBA coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain’s Megan DiLeo looks to shoot against Germany’s Leonie Fiebich during a Women’s World Cup basketball game between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,43251,61074,61523,61427,61525,5,61,61429,61426,61425,61524,59823,640,799,795,797,61430,61428,156,61424,61423],"class_list":["post-85392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-cecilia-zandalasini","tag-dominique-malonga","tag-emma-meesseman","tag-gabrielle-williams","tag-germany","tag-italy","tag-jackie-young","tag-kennedy-burke","tag-mai-yamamoto","tag-marine-johannes","tag-nyara-sabally","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","tag-rhyne-howard","tag-sandy-brondello","tag-spain","tag-steph-talbot","tag-womens-basketball-world-cup-fiba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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