Team USA played its first game of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, beating Senegal 110-46.
The game was mostly notable for being the debut of six senior national team members, including the 2024 and 2025 WNBA No. 1 picks, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, as well as the 2024 No. 7 pick, Angel Reese. The newcomers joined returning national team members such as Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.
The United States will play four more games in Puerto Rico. Since it has already qualified for the World Cup, which will be played in September in Germany, Kara Lawson’s squad is using these contests as an opportunity to build chemistry and learn first-time coach Lawson’s style.
Here are three takeaways — and questions — for Team USA as they continue through the qualifying tournament.
Team USA took advantage of its depth
Lawson made it clear that the rotation she played Wednesday will not necessarily be the one she uses moving forward — nor will the starting lineup.
Against Senegal, Lawson went with a veteran starting five, putting 2024 Olympic gold medalists Gray, Kahleah Copper and Young in the first group. (Notably missing from the starting five was Plum, who was also a part of the last Olympic team.)
“The starting lineup is going to change, the rotation is going to change,” Lawson said. “As a coach, I am still in fact-finding mode. Not in terms of who they are … but trying to find some chemistry and see what combinations work together.”
Dearica Hamby started in the frontcourt alongside Reese. With Aliyah Boston unable to participate in qualifiers because of a right leg injury she suffered at Unrivaled, the United States’ frontcourt depth is a bit shallower than what they have at the guard positions.
Lawson highlighted her second unit — Clark, Rhyne Howard, Plum, Kiki Iriafen and Monique Billings — as the group she believed gave the team an offensive spark. She brought that group in midway through the first quarter, swapping out all five starters.
“We have a very deep roster. And it’s one thing to say you have depth, but another thing to leverage that depth,” Lawson said. “I thought our players that came off the bench … took us to a different level. If you have a lot of depth, you are playing sometimes either tired starters or the other team’s bench. It is a great opportunity to create separation in the game. They did that.”
Breaking down the first-timers’ debuts
In addition to Bueckers, Clark and Reese, Billings, Iriafen and Rae Burrell made their national team debuts. Burrell didn’t check in until the fourth quarter.
“It’s an exciting day when you get to make your debut for the U.S. Women’s National Team,” Lawson said. “I thought they played well. I don’t think you would have noticed that it was their debut. I thought they came in and had the appropriate level of respect for the game.”
Clark and Billings had the most impactful debuts. Clark finished with 17 points and 12 assists, while Billings added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and five rebounds. Both played 19 minutes.
Reese, the only USA rookie to get a starting nod, finished with six points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes. Bueckers scored nine points to go along with four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes. Her first points came off a 3-pointer about four minutes after she checked in.
With five minutes left in the third quarter, Clark, Reese and Bueckers — three of the WNBA’s brightest young stars — shared the court for the first time, perhaps giving a glimpse into the future of USA Basketball.
“I’m just thankful,” Clark said. “Any time you get to put this jersey on, it’s a little different.”
How does the group continue to gel?
Chemistry is always a question for Team USA, unlike other national teams, since it doesn’t spend months playing together leading up to tournaments. Usually, the players are coming from their offseasons or their respective WNBA teams.
The group that makes up this roster is unique — 11 of the 12 players representing the U.S. in Puerto Rico had just finished playing at Unrivaled. Whether they were teammates or opponents, they believed that that time together lent itself to building quicker chemistry on Team USA.
“Yes, for this group it’s their first time playing together [but] they’ve played together in different ways, in the WNBA, or in USA or Unrivaled,” Lawson said. “There’s some synergy there.”
Team USA had a good feel for each other in its first game under Lawson, avoiding any obvious miscommunications or slipups. Twenty-eight of the team’s 34 field goals were assisted and it committed 13 turnovers. Lawson, who took over Team USA in September 2025 and was on the sideline for the first time, will be coaching only the first two games of the qualifying tournament before returning for Duke for Selection Sunday.
“We don’t have a lot of time together, so every match is super important,” Plum said. “We’re not playing necessarily the scoreboard. We’re really focusing on what we need to do to get better and grow as a team.”