UConn great Napheesa Collier leads Team USA over Hungary to advance to World Cup semifinals

It didn't matter that it's her World Cup debut or that her WNBA teammate wore the opposing team's uniform; Napheesa Collier was unstoppable.

The former UConn women's basketball star dominated on both ends of the floor to lead Team USA to its 12 th consecutive World Cup semifinal appearance.

Thanks to Collier's game-high 19 points, the United States shut down fellow former Husky star and Collier's Minnesota Lynx teammate Dorka Juhász to defeat Hungary, 108-56 , in Thursday's World Cup quarterfinals in Berlin, Germany.

The Americans will face the winner of Spain-Australia (2:30 p.m. on Thursday) in Saturday's semifinal (time TBD) for a chance to move on to Sunday's gold-medal game.

Led by Collier, five players finished in double-digit scoring for Team USA. Caitlin Clark dished out a game-high nine assists, while Collier, Kahleah Copper and Angel Reese each finished with six rebounds.

Fellow Huskies Breanna Stewart (eight points, three rebounds, two assists) and Paige Bueckers (seven points, three assists, one rebound and one steal) were two of 10 players with five points or more for the U.S.

Hungary, which last reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 1986 (also lost to the U.S.), was led by Reka Lelik with 12 points and Juhász with a game-high eight rebounds. Juhász, who was named the EuroLeague MVP in April, averaged double-doubles in Hungary's first four games of this year's tournament, but finished Thursday's game with just two points on 1-of-12 shooting for her worst performance of the tournament.

The United States punched first and punched hard to open Thursday's quarterfinals. Collier set the tone on both ends. First, the Minnesota Lynx superstar blocked her WNBA teammate, Juhász, two minutes into the game. Then, Collier went off on offense and scored a game-high 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

Hungary couldn't keep up and failed to defend Collier's signature step-back fadeaway as the former Husky put the U.S. up by 20 with a little over a minute left in the frame thanks to her go-to shot. Stewart also got in on the fun, even scoring the first bucket of the day. The former UConn teammates combined for nine of Team USA's first 13 points, 15 of its first 36 and 17 of its first 59.

The U.S. used an 18-3 run to break open the game in the first quarter and successfully shut down Juhász early. The Hungary star, who led all players with five rebounds at halftime, missed her first seven shots and didn't score her first basket until the 2:26 mark in the second quarter.

Team USA pressured Juhász and Hungary's entire frontcourt hard in the paint. Thanks to its aggressive defense and Collier and Stewart, the U.S. had more points in the paint (32) than Hungary (30) had total points at halftime (Team USA led 32-4 in the paint at intermission).

The Americans led by as much as 34 in the first half, scoring 25 points off Hungary's 14 first-half turnovers and shooting 65% from the floor.

Collier, who finished 9-of-13 from the floor with six rebounds, chipped in nine more points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to push the U.S.'s lead to over 40. Her 19 total points marked her best-ever when playing for Team USA's senior national team in a non-qualifying event.

Thursday's win extends Team USA's World Cup win streak to 34 straight games across the last two decades. The Americans finished Thursday with a 59 field goal percentage, 42 rebounds, 17 steals and 44 points off Hungary's 27 turnovers. Team USA outscored Hungary 52-16 in the paint. The U.S.'s 31 assists set the record for the most in a World Cup quarterfinal game.

After finishing group phase 3-0, the U.S. saved its best for the knockout round. Its 108 points and 52-point win against Hungary marked Team USA's highest-scoring game and largest margin of victory so far in this year's World Cup.