USA vs. Australia final score, results: USA finishes strong for gold medal at FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup

Lance Smith

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USA vs. Australia final score, results: USA finishes strong for gold medal at FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup image

FIBA

The 2025 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup was filled with excitement and drama.

But at the end of the day, the gold medal game had the result expected from before the tournament even began – USA beating Australia for a gold medal.

The Americans won 88-76 on Sunday in a game that hovered between two and three possessions until the final minutes. Their star-studded starting five delivered perhaps its best collective effort of the World Cup when it mattered most.

SPIRE Academy (OH) senior Saniyah Hall capped off a brilliant tournament with arguably her best performance – game-highs of 25 points and seven assists to go with nine rebounds and two steals on 8-16 shooting. Jazzy Davidson, incoming USC freshman and Clackamas (OR) product, had 21 points, five rebounds, three assists, and game-highs of five steals and three blocks. Kayleigh Heckel, a UConn point guard and transfer from USC, recorded 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and a game-high plus-minus of +15. Former Grandview (CO) star and incoming UCLA freshman Sienna Betts had her fifth double-double in seven games, registering 11 points, 11 boards, and two assists on 5-8 shooting. And Jordan Lee, a rising sophomore at Texas, totaled seven points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.

USA won the glass in all seven games, and their dominant rebounding effort against Australia – a team that averaged 53 rebounds per game coming in just like the Americans – was the difference between a double-digit win and a possible loss. USA won 55-32 on the boards and 19-9 on the offensive glass. While its second-chance points advantage only officially came out to 13-6, it visibly exhausted the Australians by prolonging possessions after they were unable to end countless long, otherwise-impressive defensive possessions.

Seven of the Americans' 16 turnovers came in the third quarter, but they did a better job than in the semifinals taking care of the ball through the rest of the game. Australia still rang them up for 17 points off turnovers, but it wasn't enough to jeopardize the outcome.

Bonnie Deas led Australia with 13 points and had three assists. Sienna Harvey (five assists) and Monique Bobongie (seven rebounds) had 11 points each, and Sitaya Fagan (two steals, three blocks) and Manuela Puoch (2-3 3FG) scored 10 apiece. Prasayus Notoa added seven points and four assists on 3-4 shooting.

Before the gold medal game, Spain outdueled Canada for the bronze medal.

Scroll down for live scoring, updates, and highlights from tipoff to the final buzzer.

USA vs. Australia final score

The Americans win 88-76.

USA vs. Australia live results, highlights from 2025 FIBA U19 women's World Cup

Fourth quarter:

1:23: Hall makes it 84-67 with a layup off an inbounds play.

1:47: The lead is now up to 82-67 after two free throws from Heckel.

1:58: USA has its first 13-point lead of the game after Hall goes 1-2 at the free throw line.

2:39: The Americans are suddenly up 12 after Hall splashes a three.

3:03: USA goes up by more than seven points for the first time in a while as Davidson gallops through the defense for a lefty layup. 74-65 Americans.

4:26: Both teams are in a scoring slump. USA leads 70-62.

8:55: Bonnie Deas banks in a three, and Australia has trimmed it to four. USA leads 64-60. Deas is up to 13 points.

Third quarter:

USA leads 64-57 after three quarters.

3:09: Australia is surging again, and is within five after a layup from Monique Williams. USA leads 56-51.

4:53: Davidson ends Australia's brief run with a three-point play assisted by Jordan Lee. USA goes up 56-46.

5:27: Fagan did it again and it's 53-46.

6:30: It's been a slower third quarter offensively. Australia cuts the deficit to 53-44 after a Sitaya Fagan steal and layup.

Second quarter:

USA leads 50-40 at halftime.

3:10: USA Leads 44-34 after a Heckel layup assisted by Hall.

4:40: It's nonstop action in Brno. Very few stoppages of play in the first half. USA leads 39-34 after two Jordan Lee free throws.

First quarter:

USA leads 26-23 after one quarter.

2:25: Australia has cut the deficit to 22-19 after a floater and three-pointer from Manuela Puoch.

5:23: USA leads 19-10 after a steal and layup from Kayleigh Heckel. Every American starter has scored already. Timeout Australia.

USA vs. Australia start time

Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. CEST (UTC + 2).

MORE: How to watch USA vs. Australia in FIBA women's basketball U19 World Cup

Pregame

It's the finals matchup between USA and Australia that had been widely expected – despite both teams getting played down to the wire by France, and in Australia's case, by Hungary as well. Neither team has lost a game.

With the tournament's top defense, USA has been dominant in every facet of basketball except for two offensive categories – three-point shooting and turnovers. Australia, on the other hand, has been electrifying from three with nearly 10 makes per game at above 40%.

Both teams have a balanced attack in regard to individual production.

America's top stars have been SPIRE Academy (OH) wing Saniyah Hall (19 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.2 steals, 53.2% FG), incoming UCLA post and Grandview (CO) alum Sienna Betts (15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 58.2% FG), Clackamas (OR) grad and incoming USC wing Jazzy Davidson (13.5 points, 4.0 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.2 blocks, 61.1% FG), and two players with a year of college ball already under their belt. They are point guard Kayleigh Heckel, a UConn transfer from USC who played high school ball at Long Island Lutheran (NY) and Texas University wing Jordan Lee, a former St. Mary's (Stockton, CA) star.

Among Australia's top players to watch are forward Sitaya Fagan (12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds), guard Bonnie Deas (12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 blocks), guard Monique Bobongie (11.6 points, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals), wing Madison Ryan (10.8 points, 62.9% FG, 60% 3FG), and forward Manuela Puoch (9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists).

Both squads are also packed with impact players off the bench capable of taking over for stretches.

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Lance Smith

Lance has covered high school basketball, football and softball since 2019. A graduate of The USC Marshall School of Business, Smith dabbles in linear algebra and football and basketball computer rankings.