Team USA breaks Brazil's FIBA World Cup scoring record in 145-69 drubbing of South Korea

Things are going well Down Under for Team USA. Very well.

The women's national basketball team broke the FIBA Women's World Cup scoring mark in a rout of South Korea during the group phase of the 2022 World Cup in Sydney, Australia. It was a record the USA surprisingly did not hold.

Team USA's 145-69 win broke the previous record high of 143 points set by Brazil in 1990 against Malaysia. The previous high for Team USA was 119 points, which they reached against Angola in 2014 and against China in 2006. USA was not in the top-four of highest scoring World Cup performances.

The 76-point scoring margin is also a Team USA record, breaking the 75-point victory over Angola in 2014. To drive home how large of a margin it was, in the four WNBA Finals games this month there were only three of eight team final scores that eclipsed 76 points.

The squad, which looks very different than the Olympic gold medal-winning one last summer, are 4-0 in Group A. Their final group game is against Bosnia and Herzegovina (Wednesday, ESPN+ at midnight).

USA, China (3-1) and Belgium (3-1) have already qualified for the quarterfinals. South Korea (1-3) can advance with a win against Puerto Rico. In Group B, Canada (3-1), France (3-1), Australia (3-1) and Serbia (2-2) are the qualifiers.

Team USA has not lost a World Cup game since the 2006 semifinals when they lost to the Russians. Their winning streak is currently at 26, one they also rattled off from 1994 to 2006. They're on a three-peat World Cup championship run.

A'ja Wilson, Brionna Jones lead Team USA in rout

A'ja Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP, didn't miss a beat after joining the team late following the Las Vegas Aces' championship celebration. She had 20 points (10-of-11) with eight rebounds. It matched her 20 points (7-of-14), eight rebounds, two assists and two steals against China in her first game of the tournament.

"I don't think I've ever been part of a team that can score the basketball like this," Wilson said, via the Associated Press. "This is crazy; we put up 145 points. I think when you look at us and just knowing how talented we are, we just came together, and we play together very, very well."

Team USA played shorthanded while awaiting the arrival of the WNBA champions Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray. Plum scored 19, including a 3-of-5 clip from 3-point range, with a team-high nine assists.

Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones, who led all Team USA scorers with 24 points, were also late arrivals after their Connecticut Sun took the Aces to four games in the WNBA Finals. Jones added eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist.

Breanna Stewart scored 18 and Shakira Austin had 16.

It was a tie game, 21-21, until the Americans scored 11 straight to end the first quarter and nine of 11 to start the second. It was 68-40 at halftime. Sabrina Ionescu's 3-pointer at 6:15 left broke the Team USA scoring mark and Austin's layup broke the FIBA mark with nine seconds left in the game.

Additional records were field goals made (62), assists (36) and paint points (94). The bench scored 88 points, 19 more than the South Korean team as a whole. Gray, Stewart, Wilson, Thomas and Jewell Loyd started.