The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup 5×5 basketball tournament tips off Saturday in Santiago, Chile, where a youthful Team USA will battle nine other countries from North and South America for both this summer's trophy and a ticket to the 2026 FIBA World Cup.
After falling to reigning champions Brazil in 2023, Team USA will aim to avenge the loss by winning a fifth all-time gold medal at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup final on July 6th.
Led by Duke head coach Kara Lawson, this 12-player US squad follows the federation playbook by tapping top college talent, with the NCAA's finest looking to gain international experience and hone their skills against pros like Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, who leads Brazil's AmeriCup roster.
Full of familiar faces, the USA AmeriCup lineups includes March Madness stars Olivia Miles (TCU), Flau'Jae Johnson (LSU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Madison Booker (Texas), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Raegan Beers (Oklahoma), and Joyce Edwards (South Carolina).
Also taking the FIBA court for Team USA are NCAA standouts Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt), Gianna Kneepkens (UCLA), Kennedy Smith (USC), Hannah Stuelke (Iowa), and Grace Vanslooten (Michigan State).
"[W]e haven't seen the level of physicality and experience we're going to see down there," Lawson said this week. "So that remains to be seen if we're going to be able to impose that athletic, physical play. But there's no doubt we're going to try."
How to watch Team USA at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup
The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup group stage runs from Saturday through Wednesday, with the knockouts tipping off on July 4th in a run-up to the July 6th championship game.
Team USA will open their AmeriCup campaign against hosts Chile at 8:25 PM ET on Saturday, then face Colombia at 8:10 PM ET on Sunday.
Arguably the toughest Group B contest for the US will be their Monday matchup against Puerto Rico at 8:10 PM ET, before the collegiate stars finish up the tournament's group play against Mexico at 2:10 PM ET on Wednesday.
All 2025 FIBA AmeriCup games will stream live on Courtside 1891.
Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson believes a men’s ball was used in the first half of the Blue Devils’ 70-57 loss Sunday at Florida State.
Following her team’s win over Pitt on Thursday, Lawson addressed the issue from the previous game, saying Duke players had been complaining about the ball throughout the first half. Duke shot 7-for-34 from the field in the first 20 minutes of the game.
When assistant coach Winston Gandy investigated at halftime, he determined the teams had been using a men’s ball. Gandy is a former NBA assistant coach. The officials switched to a different ball for the second half, Lawson said.
“This would never happen in a men’s game,” Lawson said. “This just wouldn’t happen. And it’s embarrassing for our sport.”
A women’s ball is about an inch smaller in circumference and 2 ounces lighter than a men’s ball. In the second half of the game, both teams improved their shooting percentage – Duke by 11 percentage points and Florida State by 15. Each team also had less turnovers.
“To have a game that, at the end of the season, could be the difference between a seed, between a title, my players don’t deserve that and neither do their players,” Lawson said. “It’s a complete failure. And you can figure out who the people I’m talking about that failed the sport and our players and both teams.”
“It’s very frustrating that a game that has so many conference implications, selection and seeding implications was not treated with the utmost respect that players on both teams deserve,” she continued. “Both teams are fighting for a title, both teams have had great seasons. And to do that for players is unacceptable.”
Both the ACC and Florida State contend that a men’s ball wasn’t used. The conference conducted a review of the incident but found “no evidence” of Duke’s claim, it said in a statement.
The ACC has released a statement regarding the allegations that the first half of Duke’s recent women’s basketball game against Florida State was played with a men’s ball in the first half: pic.twitter.com/7Bh91pwIWj
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) February 3, 2023
“Let me be clear: Florida State beat us,” Lawson said. “They beat us playing with a men’s ball in the first half and a women’s ball in the second half. But I can’t say if we’d have played with a women’s ball in the first half and the second half that we would have won. But they can’t say that, either.”
While Lawson attempted to “appeal and protest” the result, the ACC did not allow it.
“It shouldn’t be this way,” Lawson said. “And to have a game that, at the end of the season, could be the difference between a seed, between a title – my players don’t deserve that and neither do their players. It’s a complete failure. And you can figure out who the people I’m talking about (are) that failed the sport, our players and both teams.
“The lack of accountability is striking. When you make a mistake, you own it and you own it right away. You don’t pass the buck… A mistake was made here, and it’s a big one.”