The United States women's basketball team stretched their winning run at the World Cup to 35 successive matches, seeing off France 97-79 in the final to take a fifth consecutive gold medal, the first time any nation has achieved that. The win also delivered a 12th world title overall to the Americans. Yet the road to the final was anything but smooth. Hard-earned victories over Italy in the group stage and Spain in the semi-final had exposed rough edges in a heavily rebuilt squad, and in the opening half in Berlin the French, sharp and incisive in attack, made the holders work for everything they got.
The second half told a different story, as the American veterans seized control and never let it slip. Breanna Stewart poured in 22 points and was named the tournament's most valuable player for a third time, then spoke without a flicker of doubt afterwards. "We are the standard," she declared. Jackie Young and Kahleah Copper supported her with 18 and 15 points respectively. Ultimately, the result carried its own place in the record books: Stewart now stands alongside Sue Bird as the only players in history to have won four World Cup titles.
