New-look USA see off China for fourth straight Fiba World Cup before record crowd

A’ja Wilson scored 19 points, Kelsey Plum added 17 and the United States beat China 83-61 on Saturday to win their fourth consecutive gold medal at the women’s basketball World Cup.

This was one of the most dominant teams in the Americans’ storied history in the World Cup that now has won 11 gold medals. They now have won four straight gold medals for the first-time ever. This was also the biggest win in a gold-medal game, surpassing the 20-point wins that the Americans had done twice.

“It feels great,” said Wilson, who was selected as the tournament’s MVP. “We came here on a mission, we got it. We got gold. Now we’re going home with some hardware. It feels great to us. Australia was great to us. I didn’t see any kangaroos, but it’s OK because we are leaving with a gold.”

What started with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi has now been passed down to Wilson and Breanna Stewart. With Alyssa Thomas the oldest player at 30, the domination could continue for years to come.

As they’ve done all tournament, the Americans did it on both ends of the court, playing stellar defense as well as using a high-powered offense.

The US (8-0) finished the World Cup averaging 98.8 points – just short of the mark held by the 1994 team that averaged 99.1. They won by an average of 40.8 points, topping the mark held by the 2010 team.

The game was a sellout with nearly 16,000 fans – the biggest crowd to attend a women’s World Cup game since the inaugural tournament in 1953 in Chile.

Led by Li Yueru and Wu Tongtong, China hung around. The Chinese team trailed 33-28 late in the second quarter before the US went on a 10-2 run highlighted by fast-break layups by Stewart and Wilson to extend the advantage to double-digits.

Jin Weina hit a three-pointer