USA vs France Basketball Final: USA Wins 97-79 After Halftime Comeback

USA players celebrate after defeating France 97-79 to win their fifth consecutive Women's Basketball World Cup title.

USA triumphed over France 97-79 in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup final to win the tournament for the fifth successive time, but this game meant more than that for USA or France. While the former team won the tournament, this match proved that it could be done in the most difficult fashion possible. The USA vs France basketball final delivered an exciting battle as France led at halftime before the USA fought back to secure a 97-79 victory.

USA vs France Basketball Final: How the USA Turned the Game Around

Gabby Williams led France's first-half charge, scoring 16 of her 20 points before halftime.

France was leading throughout most of the first half and had a lead of 14 points in the second quarter. Gabby Williams scored 16 points before the half and France managed to score eight three-point shots in the first half. USA had to overcome a 21-2 run in which Carla Leite and Valeriane Ayayi also scored points and this led to France converting its 15-10 lead in the first quarter to a 31-17 lead going into the second quarter.

USA Fights Back Before Halftime

Caitlin Clark helped cut France’s lead to 45-43 before halftime.

The crucial aspect in this game which is not reflected in the final scoreline is that USA had already reversed most of the damage by the end of the first half. Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray led USA's recovery and Caitlin Clark hit a three-point shot to reduce France's lead to 45-43 at the half time break.

USA Defense Turns the Game Around

Jackie Young and the USA defense helped turn the game around after France's strong first half.

That's when the USA showed why it's the strongest team in women's basketball right now. USA defense shut down France's shooters in the second half, limiting it to just three three-point shots while France was scoring eight of them in the first half. Gabby Williams only scored four more points in the second half of the game.

USA recovered from the deficit in the second half with Breanna Stewart tying the score at 45-45 at the start of the third quarter. Napheesa Collier's basket put USA ahead within moments and USA then won the third quarter 30-12, allowing France to score a single three-point shot throughout the ten-minute period. When the third quarter ended with a lead of 66-54 for USA, it was clear that this game was over as the French couldn't make up the deficit in time.

When USA had taken a lead of 27 points early in the fourth quarter, at 86-59, it was clear what would happen next. France trimmed the lead to 12 in the closing minutes but USA had a lead of 25+ points going into the fourth quarter and it went on to win the match 97-79.

Breanna Stewart Leads USA to Victory

Breanna Stewart led the USA with 22 points and 10 rebounds in the World Cup final.

For the USA, Breanna Stewart scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and 4 assists while Jackie Young ended the game with 18 points. For France, Dominique Malonga led the charge with 21 points, scoring most of them in the second half when it tried to come back. Gabby Williams scored 20 points for France with 16 of them coming in the first half.

USA Wins Fifth Consecutive World Cup Title

With this victory, the USA claimed the fifth consecutive World Cup title and its 12th gold medal in the tournament's history. In the rivalry between USA and France, the latter team is catching up slowly but there's still a long way to go before it can even think of winning against the former one.

It lost both the previous Olympics' finals against the USA by close margins in 2024 and 2023 editions of the Paris and Tokyo Games respectively. The French team made its debut appearance in a World Cup final and for some time in the first half, it looked like it might make an impact on the game but it failed to do so.