The USA women’s basketball team had four players in double figures in a 101-46 victory over New Zealand in the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday.
Team USA Undefeated In FIBA World Cup Qualifier
The U.S. is now 4-0 in the tournament with one game to go. It plays Spain on Tuesday (5 p.m., TNT). The United States has already qualified for the FIBA World Cup in September in Berlin.
Rhyne Howard had 18 points on six threes to lead the USA. Caitlin Clark, who started and played 23 minutes, scored 14 points but was 2-of-7 from behind the arc. She added six assists and two steals. Monique Billings and Kelsey Plum chipped in 10 points each. Angel Reese had nine points, four rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes of play.
The chemistry between Reese and Clark on the court as teammates is evident.
One fan noted on Threads: “It’s the Dream Team White pepo don’t want to see.”
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark Continue To Be Great Teammates
The Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese saga has been a thing since Reese led LSU to a national championship win over Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The win wasn’t what turned this into a rivalry, it was Reese giving Clark the Tony Yayo/John Cena “you can’t see me” taunt as the clock neared zero.
Ever since then it’s Clark versus Reese, and every single time they’re on the same basketball court, fans everywhere are chomping at the bit to find a new angle to stir up more animosity in their contentious rivalry.
That was also the case during Team USA’s 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup qualification 110-46 blowout of Senegal in Group A play in Puerto Rico .
Clark Ignores Reese?: Dave Portnoy Fuels The Fire
During Wedneday’s big win there was a moment when Clarke subbed in and dapped up each of the players leaving the court. This, while Reese who wasn’t leaving the floor stayed in the game and attempted to dap the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year up. Cameras caught the interaction and fans immediately began to speculate what really happened. Did Clark not see Reese or was that the intent?
One of those was Dave Portnoy the founder of Barstool Sports and one of Clark’s biggest supporters. The extremely opinionated Portnoy, who’s attacked Reese on various occasions, had this to say about the incident.
“I don’t think Caitlin saw Angel, but I really really hope she did,” Portnoy, a notorious Reese hater, said.
Dave Portnoy Enjoys Antagonizing Angel Reese In Name Of Caitlin Clark
It’s no surprise Portnoy would say something of the nature when you consider how hard he’s championed Clark while constantly taking shots at Reese. He’s also refused to apologize to Reese for anything he’s said about the Chicago Sky star, even when he fired away in the aftermath of the championship game incident that took this rivalry to new levels.
“When she was going around doing that and I called her classless piece of s*** that got me transformed to Dave’s racist,” Portnoy said on the Rachel DeMita “Courtside Club” podcast last fall. “I didn’t even know who she was. I don’t care who did that. I was rooting for Caitlin. That was like the first year I was a Caitlin fan. And I had never seen anybody act like Angel did after the game. And I’ll go to my great I’ve said this a million times. You will never find footage of any athlete in a championship taunting another player the way she did.”
Fans Flood Social Media With Varying Opinions
It never takes long to get a reaction on anything drama-related, and especially as it pertains to Clark and Reese.
“That was obvously intentional. Reese was directly in her line of vision and she whips her head and hits a U-turn right as she sees her,” a fan said.
“She for sure saw her and it’s much deserved,” another fan said.
“Of course she saw Angel, be for real. She doesn’t have to like her, but be a good teammate,” a fan quipped.
“Ok coming from a woman, she absolutely saw that!,” another fan mentioned.
“Just giving high fives to the ones being subbed out,” another fan spewed.
“She saw her. She has exceptional peripheral vision, a fan said.
“She 100% seen her,” a fan said.
Reese And Clark Have Downplayed Vitriol Towards One Another
Despite their obvious dislike for one another, both call it the competitive spirit they possess. In fact, both have tries to minimize the chatter as much as possible, with Reese even saying this back in 2024 prior to a rematch in the Elite Eight.
“I don’t think people realize it’s not personal,” Reese said. “Once we get out between those lines, if I see you walking down the street, it’s like, ‘Hey, girl, what’s up? Let’s hang out.’ I think people just take it like we hate each other. Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super-competitive game. Once I get between those lines, there’s no friends. I’m going to talk trash to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game, we can kick it. I don’t think people really realize that.”
They may not hate each other, but Stevie Wonder can see they don’t care for each other too much.
