China defend Women's Basketball title against USA; Hungary break medal drought

ESSEN - People’s Republic of China retained their FISU World University Games women’s basketball title after blowing away USA in the third quarter of the gold medal match at the Grugahalle on Friday.

The opening exchanges of an eagerly anticipated final were even and the scores were locked 42-42 going into halftime, but in 10 devastating minutes after the restart China piled on the pressure to outscore their opponents 28-16. It proved to be the final margin of victory, with China running out 81-69 winners.

“It is not only the final we won but all the games we played in this tournament,” Chen Yujie (CHN), who led her team’s scoring with 19 points, said.

“We never expected we would beat the Americans in this way. That is very important for us. We only had intensive training for two weeks, but we know each other very well. We are like one big family.

“We have stayed up late every night to discuss our strategy against our opponents. That is how we could build such a great relationship and team.”

BACK-TO-BACK

Chen’s teammate Liu Yutong (CHN) will celebrate another FISU Games gold medal, having been part of the victorious team which won gold on home courts in Chengdu two years ago.

“This is my second title and it is such a pleasure for me,” Liu said.

“My teammates are great, my team are great, my coach is great. Everyone helps each other do the job and it is so nice, fantastic, unbelievable.

“USA are such a good team. In every competition, they are always the best. But today my teammates were great, and we made fewer mistakes. To become the champion outside of China is the best.”

EASY BUCKETS

Clara Adlee Blacklock (USA) was happy enough to take silver but thought the intensity of the tournament took a toll on her team.

“I felt like we left it all on the court as best we could,” Blacklock said. “I think we are gassed but I think our girls fought hard.

“Obviously, we came up short but I am proud of these girls. We let them get easy buckets down the stretch and so we just needed to defend better. They were making shots when we weren’t. I felt like that was the missing piece.”

PROUD COACH

USA coach Krista Gerlich was glowing in her praise of her team’s efforts.

“I was so proud of our kids for how hard they played - they definitely emptied their tanks.” USA head coach Krista Gerlich said.

“At the end of the day we will learn from this. We learned how to win together, we learned how to fight together. Our team chemistry is off the charts right now.”

After Wednesday’s narrow semi-final win against Hungary, Gerlich had noted how her team was down to a seven-player rotation because of injuries. That shortcoming proved decisive in the final, as China’s bench produced 24 points to USA’s 10.

“I think our kids had every opportunity to shy away from the challenges that faced them,” Gerlich said. “Whether it be a short bench, the physicality, or being down by three with 20 seconds to go. They had every reason to wave the white flag, but they didn’t.”

After the Chinese players had celebrated in a huddle on court, small forward Chen said her teammates were ready to quietly celebrate the golden conclusion to their Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games – without specifying how.

“It’s a secret,” Chen said. “We will only drink milk.”

In the earlier bronze medal game Hungary beat Poland 70-50 to claim their second ever medal in FISU Games women’s basketball. Hungary’s only other medal, also bronze, came 60 years ago on home court at the Budapest 1965 Universiade.

Basketball continues at the Grugahalle on Saturday with the men's bronze and gold medal matches. Tickets are available here.

FGNS pg/ph/mb

Photo: © Leon Tonhäuser / Rhine-Ruhr 2025