After butting heads as rivals at the college and professional levels, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have made magic happen on the court for Team USA at the FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Clark and Reese were fierce rivals when they played at Iowa and LSU respectively, with Reese beating her counterpart in the 2023 national championship game.

That feud carried over into the WNBA as two of the league’s most popular players battled throughout the season.

Now, they’re on the same team with the same goal of taking Team USA to new heights as they play at the World Cup held in Germany.

On Thursday, the Americans took that next step as they defeated Hungary 108-56. While Napheesa Collier led the way in scoring, both Clark (10 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists) and Reese (9 points, 6 rebounds, three assists) put up solid contributions.

Reflecting on their success, Reese praised her team’s growing cohesion as they progress through the tournament.

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have set their rivalry aside and are a strong on-court duo

The two have played brilliantly at the FIBA World Cup, linking up for many scoring plays 

Reese says the two know the other’s game and they’ll ‘be USA teammates for a while’ 

‘When you have so much talent around you, it makes everything easy,’ Reese said. 

With only a few games under their belt, the Atlanta Dream star says everyone is ‘just trying to figure out the team. We’re still figuring each other out. 

‘But I think we’re gelling at the perfect time. Being able to go into semifinals looking like this feels really good. I’m excited.’

When asked specifically about her productive partnership with Clark in these games, Reese says their familiarity has led to success.

‘Yeah, I mean, we’ve played against each other so many times, so I’m sure we know each other’s game like the back of each other’s hand,’ she said. 

‘So just easily dishing it off to her, she dishes it off to me. She knows my slides, so I kind of got one to her today, or maybe two. So it’s fun. 

‘We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re going to be USA teammates for a while.’

Team USA is off to the semifinals where they will play the winner of the game between Spain and Australia on Saturday.

The Americans didn’t lose a single game in their group featuring China, Italy and Czechia and are the favorites to win a 12th title.