Newsflash – Caitlin Clark is good at basketball. But you guys already knew that.

The U19 Team USA squad is impressive too and they flexed their muscle in Group A pool play going 3-0 to start the 2021 U19 FIBA World Cup.

The defending champs opened preliminary round play on Saturday vs Italy, coasting to a 96-37 win. Caitlin Clark scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished four assists in the blowout victory.

Then on Sunday, Clark’s dominate first half helped the U19 Team USA squad build a 52-35 halftime lead vs Australia in the second game of preliminary play. The game was a rematch of the 2019 U19 World Cup Final and was expected to be an entertaining game in Group A.

Clark started the game a little slow shooting, but was able to score eight points, along with a couple assists in the opening quarter. Despite, the early misses Clark was seeing the floor well and making good passes to open teammates. The Australians trailed just 25-20 after the first quarter, but Team USA opened things up before halftime.

Clark flexed her three-point shooting ability in the second quarter, knocking down four threes in a two-minute span and showed the Australian team firsthand the things she can do when she gets hot from beyond the arc. The lead for Team USA grew to 17 by halftime, thanks in large part to 20 points from Caitlin.

USA head coach Cori Close was very complimentary of Caitlin Clark’s performance saying, “When she (Clark) has the mindset to not only score the ball efficiently, but also to create easier scoring opportunities for a teammate, now that makes her elite. She can really shoot it and she was really hot in that second quarter, but she is throwing so much credibility when she’s at the same time finding her teammates for easy shots.”

Coach Close is also the head women’s basketball coach at UCLA.

The USA squad did not slow down in the second half and ultimately won in dominating fashion, 99-59. Clark slowed down in the second half, but finished the contest with 24 points to lead the team, as well as nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. She was 7/17 from the field, 5/7 from the free throw line and had a +/- of 37, which led the team.

Clark spoke postgame about the team’s ability to play good defense saying, “I think we came out hot, our defense was locked in and that’s when we made our runs…When we are getting stops and then get fast break points that’s when we are at our best. So, it definitely starts on defense for us.”