In a 94-61 opening win over China, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers scored 14 points apiece while Angel Reese added nine rebounds and key defense on 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu.
The performance came in the trio’s first major senior-team tournament, where all three 24-year-olds are already carving out roles despite coming off the bench for the first time.
Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart framed that debut as part of the U.S. program’s handoff model—mixing veterans with emerging stars to sustain a run of eight straight Olympic golds and four World Cup titles.
That youth movement is unusually pronounced in Berlin: this is the second-youngest U.S. World Cup roster in three decades, with an average age just under 27, and Italy is next on Saturday.