College Stars Help U.S. Qualify For FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup
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With a roster of only college players, Team USA won the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Sunday and advanced to next years FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.
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July 8, 2025
06:00 AM
Forbes
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SportsMoneyCollege Stars Help U
Qualify For FIBA Women’s Basketball World CupByTim Casey, Senior Contributor
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights
Tim Casey is a reporter who covers basketball and sports
AuthorJul 08, 2025, 06:00am EDTSOUTH BEND, INDIANA - DECEMBER 12: Hannah Hidalgo #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates a
More three pointer against the UConn Huskies during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on December 12, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Getty Images As teammates at Notre Dame the past two seasons, Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles formed arguably the best backcourt in women’s college basketball
Hidalgo was a first team Associated Press All-American this past season, while Miles was a second team selection
Still, Miles transferred in April to TCU, ending the partnership with Hidalgo
This past week, though, Hidalgo and Miles were again together as members of Team USA in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup
Win all seven of their games, including a 92-84 victory over Brazil in Sunday’s final in Chile
With the title, the Team USA clinched a berth in next year’s FIBA World Cup, which will take place in September 2026 in Berlin, Germany
The only other countries already in the field are Germany, which got in because it is hosting the event, and Belgium, which qualified after winning the EuroBasket title last month
With the WNBA season underway, Team USA’s roster was filled with numerous college stars
And the young players had little trouble dominating their opponents
Won their games by an average of more than 36. 8 points per game
The championship was the only game decided by fewer than 12 points
Two of Brazil’s top three scorers in the tournament play in the WNBA: Indiana Fever forward Damiris Dantas averaged a tournament-high 21. 4 points per game, while Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso averaged 14. 9 points and a tournament-high 9. 9 rebounds per game
MORE FOR YOU During the final, Dantas had 35 points and 8 rebounds, Cardoso added 19 points and 5 rebounds and guard Bella Nascimento had 24 points
They shot a combined 22-of-40 from the field (55%), but the rest of the team managed just 6 points on 2-of-20 (10%) from the field
The young Americans, meanwhile, were much more balanced and overcame a one-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to win the championship
Avenge a 69-58 loss to Brazil two years earlier in the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup final, a game in which Cardoso had a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds
Mikayla Blakes, an incoming sophomore at Vanderbilt, was named the event’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a team-high 27 points on 11 of 24 from the field in Sunday’s championship
Blakes averaged 14. 0 points and shot 43. 9% from the floor in 22. 1 minutes per game during the tournament
Blakes, a 5-foot-8 guard, was a third team AP All-American last season after averaging 23. 3 points per game
Hidalgo, a 5-foot-6 guard, was the other U
Player besides Blake to make the event’s All Star 5, an honor for the tournament’s best five players
Hidalgo averaged 12. 4 points, 4. 6 assists and 3. 1 steals in 20. 1 minutes per game
She and Blakes both grew up in New Jersey
Blakes was named the state’s Gatorade high school player of the year in 2024, one year after Hidalgo won that award
Other players who shined included Miles, who led the tournament in assists (7. 1 per game); South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards, who averaged 9. 9 points and 5. 6 rebounds per game; UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens, who averaged 9. 7 points per game and shot 54. 8% from the field; and Oklahoma center Raegan Beers, who averaged 8. 1 points and 5. 7 rebounds per game and made 51. 5% of her field goals
Texas forward Madison Booker, Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke, USC forward Kennedy Smith, Michigan State forward Grace Van Slooten, LSU guard Flaujae Johnson and Iowa State center Audi Crooks were also on Team USA
Many of the players on the U
Roster will be on preseason All-American and All-Conference teams when those lists are released in the coming months
Until then, they can take a short break and celebrate their recent title before preparing for another college season
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