Kara Lawson Signals Caitlin Clark Will Remain on Bench for Team USA Quarterfinal

Team USA coach Kara Lawson seems poised to maintain the same starting lineup for Thursday's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup quarterfinal against Hungary, which would leave Caitlin Clark coming off the bench for the fourth straight game in Berlin.

Lawson was asked directly about moving Clark into the lineup for the elimination game at a press conference Wednesday.

Chelsea Gray has been the starting point guard in all three group games. During this phase, she averaged 3.7 points and 1.0 assist per game in 16.5 minutes, with a field goal percentage of 30.8%.

"I think that our starting group's done a pretty good job of getting us off to good starts, and rotationally from game to game we could change things, but I like where we are right now," Lawson said.

Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers drew the same answer when Lawson was asked whether either would move into the starting group.

"I like where we are right now," Lawson repeated.

Clark averaged 8.0 points and a team-high 6.3 assists in 21.9 minutes a game through the group stage. She shot 30.4% from the field over the three games.

In her global championship debut Sept. 4 against China, Clark scored 14 points with 3 rebounds and 11 assists in 25 minutes. She did not turn the ball over.

Clark shot 4-of-9 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Her 11 assists were the most for an American woman in a World Cup game since Dawn Staley had 12 in 1998, according to FIBA.

Lawson said afterward that Clark was "terrific coming off the bench, changing the tempo of the game."

On Sunday against Italy, Clark failed to make any of her 6 field goal attempts and finished with 1 point, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers.

On Monday against Czechia, she scored 9 points, grabbed 1 rebound, and dished out 7 assists in 22 minutes. Clark shot 3-of-8 from the field, 1-of-6 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 at the free throw line.

In the three group games, Clark has made 4-of-16 from 3-point range. During the 2026 regular season, she shot 37.3% from beyond the arc for the Indiana Fever.

Against Italy, the starters posted a combined minus-15, while the bench contributed a combined plus-30.

Lawson has started Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young, and Gray in every game of the tournament. All five won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and those five are the returning senior national team players on the 12-player roster.

The 55-52 win over Italy was the smallest margin of victory for the United States at a World Cup since 1979. The 55 points were also the Americans' lowest World Cup total since 1971.

It was the first World Cup game the United States had played that was decided by single digits since 2010.

The other two group games went the other way.

The Americans beat China 94-61 in the opener and Czechia 105-64 on Monday to win Group D and enter the knockout stage as the No. 1 seed. Stewart scored 19 points against Czechia, with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Tuesday's 84-63 win over Japan put Hungary in the quarterfinals.

France beat the Hungarians in their tournament opener. Wins over Nigeria, South Korea, and Japan followed. Hungary had not played in a World Cup since 1998. The last trip to the final eight came 40 years ago.

Réka Lelik scored a game-high 23 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists against Japan.

FIBA's tournament preview referred to Dorka Juhász and Virág Takács-Kiss as Hungary's twin towers. Juhász and Collier are teammates with the Minnesota Lynx, who added Aari McDonald before the playoffs.

Juhász is averaging 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in Berlin.

The United States has never lost a quarterfinal in FIBA Women's World Cup play.

The WNBA paused its regular season for the tournament, and the playoff field is already set on the other side of the break.

Tip-off in Berlin is set for 5:30 a.m. ET Thursday. The game airs on TNT and streams on HBO Max and Courtside 1891.

The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday.