Team USA has not lost a FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup game in over two decades. However, the 9232-strong crowd at the Berlin Stadium witnessed the USA come dangerously close to losing, only edging past the Italians 55-52 in what was their closest margin of victory since 1979 and the toughest assignment yet in this World Cup after the dominant 94-61 opening win over China.

In the end, it was the USA’s squad depth and veteran leadership that got them over the line. Jackie Young, who came up clutch in the game, reflected on the close victory afterwards, acknowledging that such a close-fought game was needed to build character.

“Obviously it’s a new group, and we’re playing with a lot of new people, new lineups, and things like that,” Young said in a video shared by Taille Six reporter Eliott Caillot on X. “And so, you know, we’re just trying to, you know, figure some things out, get some kings out, get some nerds out, all things like that. But, you know, I think it was good for us to, you know, have a game like that today.”

Named Player of the Game, Jackie Young was the lone scorer to reach double digits with just 10 points—a testament to Italy’s suffocating defense.

Breanna Stewart echoed a similar sentiment, insisting that while this group of players may not have spent much time together, ultimately, everybody pulled through.

“Italy really kind of mucked up the game for us a little bit and made it difficult for us to score,” Stewart said in the FIBA post-game press conference. “But tough team, tons of respect to what they’ve done and just proud of the resiliency of this group. We haven’t had a lot of time together, and when things really mattered down the stretch, we were able to get big stops. Offensively, get good baskets. A win is a win.”

The defending champions’ camp was quite upbeat before the Italy game.

“Anybody I pass the ball to, it feels like they’re never going to miss a shot,” said Caitlin Clark about her teammates after their win over China on Friday.

Well, the story of the Italy game went a little differently than it was expected. For starters, this was the Americans’ lowest total since the three-point line was introduced, as the Italians played a very stringent defense. USA missed all of their first 10 attempts from beyond the arc till Paige Bueckers finally managed to land one.

Team USA shot an underwhelming 28.6% from the field, and their efficiency from beyond the arc was abysmally low, at just 8.3%.

Although the USA took an early lead, leading 24-10 at one point in the second quarter, the Italians came back fighting. By the third quarter, they were leading 33-32. It was a true collective run by the Italians.

It was in the fourth quarter that Breanna Stewart delivered the decisive blow with 3:20 remaining, sinking a mid-range jumper to put Team USA up 51-50 over Italy. That bucket proved to be the final lead change of a gritty fourth-quarter battle. It punctuated a pivotal late-game surge from the 4:46 mark to 1:07, during which the Americans outscored Italy 7-2 on 3-of-5 shooting while locking down the Italians to just 1-of-7 from the floor.

While the teams tied on the boards with four rebounds each, Italy went completely cold, failing to log a single assist or steal throughout that stretch.

With the game on the line in the closing seconds, Italy turned to Cecilia Zandalasini, but the game-high 14-point scorer saw her overtime-forcing 3-pointer fall agonizingly short.

Caitlin Clark and Kara Lawson’s assessment of Zandalasini as one of the Italians’ main threats before the game turned out to be true. Italy dominated the stat line of the game, having the player with the most points in Zandalasini, at 14, and the player with the second most rebounds in Lorela Cubaj, at 9.

For Breanna Stewart, however, the closely contested game represented much more than a simple ball game: It highlighted the growth that women’s basketball has made over the years.

“The growth has continued from every single international competition,” said Stewart. “You see it when you’ve played overseas, I’ve played with Fenerbahce as of late, or you see it in the WNBA now with so many international players coming in and being a part of that league, too. I think it’s really exciting,” said Stewart, per FIBA.

Stewart believes the sell-out crowds and more and more people watching the game on streaming networks and the internet are a very positive sign.

“What’s cool to me is that more people are engaged. More people back home are engaged. A lot of people here are really engaged. And these players that are stepping out and representing their country, you might know them for the first time, or you might have seen them 10 times, but they all have incredible paths and stories. I think what’s really cool is just the way that we’re able to be role models to so many and just expand that reach.”

Team USA is now 2-0 and has qualified for the quarterfinals. For its final group-stage game, the team will face Czechia next on Monday, and they will certainly hope to avoid a scare like this.