BERLIN (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 16 points and Kahleah Copper added 13 to help the U.S. beat Spain 76-66 on Saturday, advancing to the championship game of the women's FIBA World Cup.
The Americans will face France in a rematch of the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal game that the U.S. won by a point.
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Breanna Stewart, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Kahleah Copper, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Napheesa Collier, of the United States, reaches for the ball over Spain's Elena Buenavida during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Breanna Stewart, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The U.S. has won 35 straight games in the World Cup going back to a loss to Russia in the semifinals in 2006. Now the Americans are one win away from a fifth consecutive tournament title. That would match the former Soviet Union for the most consecutive championships.
After cruising through their past two games, the U.S. struggled against Spain as the Americans couldn't get any flow on offense.
The game was tied at 58 to start the fourth quarter before the Americans scored 12 of the first 14 points to take a 70-60 lead — their biggest of the game with 5:20 left.
Spain could only get within eight the rest of the way.
The U.S. spent a lot of the game at the foul line, making 27 of 35.
This was the first meeting in the World Cup between the teams since the U.S. topped Spain for the gold medal in the 2014 tournament. That was Stewart's debut with the national team.
Spain started out hot early, scoring nine of the first 10 points of the game. That was the largest deficit the Americans had faced in this tournament, topping the three points they trailed Italy by in that 55-52 victory. It was 16-9 before the U.S. newcomers entered the game and helped close the period with a 12-2 run.
The Americans though couldn't really extend that lead much in the second quarter. They couldn't get into any offensive flow as Spain was playing a physical defense that resulted in foul after foul being called. The U.S. took 27 free throws in the first half, making 19 of them, while the team had 26 field-goal attempts total. The U.S. led 39-36 at the break.
Spain, which will play host Germany in the bronze medal game on Sunday, wouldn't go away.
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Breanna Stewart, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Kahleah Copper, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Napheesa Collier, of the United States, reaches for the ball over Spain's Elena Buenavida during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Breanna Stewart, of the United States, guards Spain's Iyana Martín during the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal match between the United States and Spain in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Josh Hoover threw four touchdown passes, three to wide receiver Charlie Becker, and No. 5 Indiana routed Howard 55-0 in a 55-minute game on Saturday.
Hoover was 6 of 11 for 145 yards, has four TDs in each of his first two games with Indiana and has thrown for 10,006 yards in his career. Becker had 81 yards, finishing one TD catch short of matching the school's single-game record.
Neither played in the second half, and the two coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to 10 minutes.
“Better taste in our mouth after this one,” two-time Associated Press Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti said, comparing it to last week's game. “Got the shutout on defense, played a lot of people, emptied the bench, shortened the fourth quarter. We started to dominate up front, It started on offense and defensively it got to the point where they really couldn’t block us. The only issue was we couldn’t tackle their quarterback occasionally.”
Lee Beebe Jr. and Turbo Richard each topped 100 yards as Indiana (2-0) rushed for 301 yards. The defending national champs extended the Football Bowl Subdivision's longest active winning streak to 18 and the FBS' longest active home winning streak to 17.
Cignetti is still unbeaten at Memorial Stadium and his 28-2 record after 30 games is the second best in FBS history. Fielding Yost started his Michigan tenure at 29-0-1.
Howard (1-2) dropped its second straight. The Football Championship Subdivision school's only victory over an FBS opponent came in 2017 against UNLV.
Hoover connected with Becker for scores of 34 and 6 yards on Indiana's first two drives before finding Shazz Preston for a 39-yard score and a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.
Becker added a 41-yard TD reception midway through the second quarter, and Indiana closed the half with Rolijah Hardy's 19-yard interception return and Richard's 14-yard scoring run to make it 41-0.
Howard quarterback Ja'Shawn Scroggins was 8 of 15 for 43 yards with one interception.
“That’s gone on a couple times this year, I think in two other games,” Cignetti said, explaining the decision to shorten the game. “It was mentioned before the game by the officials, just in case, and I brought it up after the third quarter and they went and talked to their coach. We got it done in less than three hours and got everybody out of the heat.”
Howard: After starting the game with back-to-back first downs, the Bison had just two the rest of the game. They were outgained 510-57, including 301-13 on the ground. There will be better days for coach Ted White's team.
Indiana: Cignetti made it clear what needed to improve in Week 2 — the ground game and the defense. Consider it done. The defense forced punts on each Howard's first (six) drives and Hardy's interception was forced by pressure on Scroggins.
Bad weather sent many fans home early for the second straight week. In the season opener, it was excessive heat that pushed field temperatures up to 152 degrees.
On Saturday, it was rain that arrived just before the two-minute timeout in the first half. While the temperature at kickoff was 75 degrees, the humidity was 88 percent.
Indiana played without kicker Nico Radicic, who has a lower back injury. Cignetti said Radicic woke up Thursday morning with a stiff back and was unable to play. He was replaced by Paddy McAteer, who is from Ireland. McAteer didn't have any field-goal attempts, but did miss his second extra-point attempt wide left.
Howard: visits Rutgers on Sept. 25
Indiana: hosts Western Kentucky next Saturday.
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Indiana defensive lineman Mario Landino (97) battles Howard offensive lineman Guan Price II (55) during the second half an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)
Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover (10) hands the ball off to running back Lee Beebe Jr. (29) during the first half an NCAA college football game against Howard, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)
