The real headline from Team USA’s win over Spain wasn’t the final score, but an impromptu Iowa Hawkeyes reunion that saw a friendly ‘tussle’ between Caitlin Clark and Megan Gustafson. Team USA clinched an 84-70 win over Spain in their final game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup qualifiers, completing a perfect run. The on-court moment quickly spilled onto social media, where Gustafson’s hilarious two-word reply showed where her true allegiances lie.

It was the third quarter of the game when USA’s Rhyne Howard bricked a three-pointer after being left unguarded near the half-court. Gustafson got the defensive rebound subsequently but rolled the ball to Clark, courtesy of a bad pass. CC arrived at the paint at a near-perfect time, taking advantage of the play and scoring a layup from under the basket, and straight away turned to Gustafson for a seemingly verbal exchange.

While the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup guessed that Clark was just sarcastically thanking Gustafson for the pass, the latter came out with an even funnier two-word response. “Go Hawks? 😅🖤💛”  Gustafson wrote.

The pressure-laden game quickly turned into a space for muscle flexing for the Iowa icons. The dominance of Gustafson and Clark was evident in Iowa independently. They never got to play a match together as Gustafson bid goodbye to the program just a season before CC took over the Hawkeyes reign. Yet despite that, the two Iowa flag-bearers have crossed paths several times in their careers.

Notably, it was Gustafson whose record Clark surpassed to become the all-time scoring leader in Iowa program history. The 29-year-old capped off with 2804 points across her four years, while Clark bettered it back in 2023. The Indiana Fever guard eventually concluded with 3951 points, making her the all-time scoring leader in college basketball.

“As soon as I watched you play as a freshman, I really did know, my record’s not going to last very long,” Gustafson said for Clark after she broke her record. “You’ve inspired so many kids, boys and girls, all over the world, all over the state of Iowa. You’ve made every single person to watch you so proud.”

While this Iowa reunion did have its fair share of minutes, the USA-Spain game also carried significant weight. Going against a formidable Spain with Gustafson and the likes of Awa Fam, it was a known fact that Team USA’s final game of the qualifiers would be anything but easy. As reality set in, it turned out exactly that, as the Americans clinched their narrowest 84-70 win of the tournament.

Megan Gustafson led the scoring for her team, recording 15 points. The Wisconsin native got into her groove right after the tipoff, scoring 7 points in the first five minutes of the game, leading her side to an 11-8 lead in the first half. Team USA tightened its defense immediately after giving up the lead again at 15-14, and never let it slip away for the rest of the game.

Clark dealt with a scoring slump, recording just 7 points with just 2 of 7 from open play. But from an all-around perspective, CC was quite efficient with 7 assists and 2 rebounds. Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, also contributed well in this 14-point win, as Team USA won five straight in San Juan, prompting their veteran teammate to share praise for this younger group of players.

Kelsey Plum Feels Secure About Team USA’s Future Courtesy of the Caitlin Clark-Led Batch

When Team USA was under pressure against Spain, it was the seniors who actually bailed them out. Kahleah Copper led the scoring with 20 points, while Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby combined for 32 points and 10 rebounds. It laid the foundation for the team’s win. But it wasn’t without the occasional flurry of the newcomers that the team kept the momentum going into the game.

With Clark’s all-around performance, Paige Bueckers also chipped in with 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists each. Angel Reese also did perfectly on what she does best, finishing the night with 8 on the glass. And at this point, such performances aren’t even surprising from these players, as they have done so throughout this tournament, giving veterans like Plum reassurance about the team’s immediate future.

“It’s always an honor to wear USA—I think any time you get to play the best players in the world, it’s an honor,” Plum said. “We have a lot of young talent, and the United States is in great hands.”

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As the qualifiers tipped off, there were uncertainties about how a new batch of players, each a superstar in their own right, would mix with one another and with the national team. But across the tournament, if we’ve learnt one thing, it’s that the last concern for the team management going into the World Cup in Germany is… Clark, Bueckers, and Reese have bonded immensely on the court through link-up plays and unselfish plays.

Lead coach Nate Tibbetts expressed pride in his team’s play throughout the tournament. “We’ve got room to grow, we’re going to continue to get better, and I’m just really proud of how we competed at this tournament,” he said.

On a personal note, Caitlin Clark finished her San Juan campaign perfectly. She won the tournament MVP in the first national tournament of her career for her precise shooting and playmaking, which helped her team on a 5-0 run. And for CC, it’s just the beginning, as she has an ocean to bag for the national team in the future, starting with the World Cup in Germany.