Caitlin Clark named MVP of World Cup qualifying tournament
Caitlin Clark named MVP of World Cup qualifying tournament
Heather Burns, USA TODAY Wed, March 18, 2026 at 1:17 PM UTC
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Caitlin Clark named MVP of World Cup qualifying tournament
Caitlin Clark was named MVP at the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Indiana Fever point guard helped Team USA cruise to a 5-0 record at the tournament. Clark averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists. Her performance came after an eight-month injury layoff. She played five games in seven days, a good test after several soft tissue injuries derailed her second season in the WNBA.
"I feel like I put myself in the best possible shape that I could be in at this point," Clark told the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY network. "Sometimes almost the first game is the hardest, but once you get in kind of the flow of things, and you figure things out, and you kind of get your wind back, you're in a little bit better of a position."
Clark's inclusion in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament fulfilled a lifelong goal of playing on the USA Basketball senior national team.
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Following their final win, against Spain, the American players were handed boarding passes to the FIBA World Cup in September in Berlin, in addition to black baseball caps that read, "We own the game."
The U.S. women owned the qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico and won by an average margin of 42 points in five games across seven days. The feat was even more impressive considering half of Team USA's roster was rookies making their national senior team debut.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark named MVP of FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament
Source: “AOL Sports”
