USC commit Jazzy Davidson was among three Americans in double figures with 15 points in a 70-58 victory over Spain in a FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup semifinal game Saturday in Brno, Czechia.
Davidson, a 6-foot-1-inch forward who is entering her senior year at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon, made six of 11 shots, including three of four 3-point shots, in 30 minutes, 35 seconds.
Incoming UCLA forward Sienna Betts led the U.S. with a game-high-equaling seven rebounds before fouling out with 2:26 to play. The 6-foot-4-inch Betts is the younger sister of Bruins’ All-America center Lauren Betts.
The victory advances the Americans into Sunday’s final against Australia, an 87-75 winner over Canada in Saturday’s other semifinal. The 11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time game will be streamed on YouTube.com/FIBA.
There were eight lead changes in the opening 7:40. The U.S. never trailed again after Kate Harpring’s 3-point play with 1:09 left in the first quarter for the final points of the quarter gave it a 20-19 lead.
Spain re-tied the score three times in the second quarter, the last at 26-26, 4:07 before halftime. The Americans then took the lead for good by responding with a 12-2 run to close the first half, with Davidson scoring seven points, for a 38-28 halftime lead.
The U.S. increased its lead to 48-32 with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter after scoring eight unanswered points, with Davidson beginning and ending the run with 3-point baskets. After Spanish power forward Maria Anais Rodriguez ended the drought by making a turnaround jump shot, the Americans scored the next nine points, including four by Betts, for a 57-34 lead.
The U.S led 64-42 at the end of the third quarter and by at least 12 in the fourth in front of a crowd at Arena Vodova announced at 302.
Rodriguez was the lone Spaniard to score in double figures with 14. She averaged 1.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 36 minutes over 10 games as a freshman at Oklahoma State in the 2024-25 season, then transferred to Arkansas.
The victory extended the Americans’ record winning streak to 27 games in the biennial tournament, dating back to opener of the 2019 tournament. The U.S. is 106-13 in the tournament first played in 1985. It was held every four years until 2005, when it was switched to being held every two years.
The U.S. is first in the girls’ rankings compiled by FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, one spot ahead of Spain. The rankings are based on games played by women’s U16 through U19 national teams in the most recent two occurrences of various international tournaments.
The Australians are fifth in the girls’ rankings. The Americans are 9-2 against the Australia in the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup, including winning the last seven games, a streak which began in the 1997 final that avenged a preliminary round loss a week earlier.