The Caitlin Clark–Angel Reese connection has been strong during the women’s FIBA World Cup.
The college rivals turned teammates on the U.S. national team showed off their growing chemistry in Team USA’s blowout victory against Hungary on Thursday in Berlin. The Americans knocked out their quarterfinal opponents 108-56, notching the team’s 34th consecutive win in World Cup play since 2006.
“We’ve played against each other so many times, so I’m sure we know each other’s game like the back of each other’s hand,” Reese said when asked after the game about playing with Clark. “Just easily dishing it off to her. She dishes it off to me. She knows my spots. I got one to her today, maybe two. So it’s fun. We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re gonna be USA teammates for a while.”
The strength of Clark and Reese’s two-person game was on full display in Thursday’s matchup. Clark assisted on six of Reese’s nine points, and Reese returned the favor during the third quarter. After securing a steal, Reese hit Clark for an easy transition layup.
Reese ended the game with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Clark finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Clark has also complimented Reese as a competitor and a teammate during the tournament.
“We’re both fiery, fiery competitors and we want to win and it’s one of the things I really admire about her game,” Clark told the Associated Press in an interview published Wednesday. “She’s competitive and she has a tremendous motor, like she has one of the best motors in the league. She works just as hard as anybody on the court. So, it’s been fun to to be able to play with her.”
The Indiana Fever guard and Atlanta Dream forward have been household names since their iconic college matchups. Thanks to their intensely loyal — and often vocal — fan bases, that rivalry has been carried into their WNBA careers where every matchup and interaction invites heightened scrutiny, especially online.
Clark told the AP that many of these stories about her and Reese’s relationship are “false takes.”
“No matter what, there’s always going to be people that create those narratives and say whatever they want to say,” Clark said. “There’s definitely no stopping that and they’re always going to be there.”
Reese and Clark are among Team USA’s young core, dubbed the “young and turnt” crew by teammate Paige Bueckers during training camp in December. The World Cup marks the first major international competition for six of those players: Bueckers, Clark, Reese, Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
Team USA is set to play Spain at the semifinals on Saturday.
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