USC’s Kennedy Smith Wins Gold

usctrojans.com  —  USC women’s basketball’s 6-1 guard Kennedy Smith is bringing home a gold medal after helping the U.S. National Team to a first-place finish at the FIBA AmeriCup in Chile.

The United States beat defending champion Brazil 92-84 in the title match on July 6 in Santiago, Chile.

As she enters her sophomore season with the Trojans, Smith, described as a “freak of nature” by her Trojan coach Lindsay Gottlieb, now has claimed gold twice in international action with the USA. Last summer, she won gold at the U18 AmeriCup, while this summer she has made her senior team debut with Team USA.

Smith played in every game for the USA at the FIBA AmeriCup, topping out with 10 points in a win over Mexico, nabbing four steals vs. the Dominican Republic and notching three blocks and three steals along with seven points in the semifinal win over Canada. In all, she averaged 4.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game for Team USA.

Final Standings

1. USA

The young U.S. squad avenged its 2023 loss to Brazil and earns the gold medal to secure a direct berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

SANTIAGO (Chile) – The United States prevailed against Brazil, the 2023 defending champions, to reclaim gold in this year’s Final at the Centro de Deportes Colectivos in Santiago, Chile. With a 92-84 victory, the Americans claimed their fifth continental crown and secured a direct ticket to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. With this new championship trophy, the U.S. has now won three of the last four Women’s AmeriCup titles.

2. BRA

3. CAN

4. ARG

5. COL

6. PUR

7. MEX

8. DOM

9. CHI

10. ESA

usctrojans.com;  fiba.com

______________

TrojanDailyBlog members —  We always encourage you to add factual information, insight, divergent opinions, or new topics to the TDB that don’t necessarily pertain to any particular moderator post or member comment.

SUBSCRIBE HERE TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF NEW COMMENTS OR REPLIES.
Notify of
7 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ATL D.D.S.
Major Genius
ATL D.D.S.
Offline
July 8, 2025 8:00 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Surprised that there isn’t the Clemson-Furman rivalry or the Ohio State-Ball State rivalry or any other of the Division 1-AA cupcakes that the big boys schedule every year to rest at the season’s end prior to playoff time. Jokes, all.

Jamaica
Major Genius
Jamaica
Offline
July 8, 2025 12:05 pm
Reply to  ATL D.D.S.

ATL I have to shake my head reading your post as so many top programs in CFB were unapologetic scheduling easy wins to pad their record. I remember Nick Saban who was just as guilty as anyone buying wins. He would stand there at press conferences and admit he didn’t like doing it but felt these DivII programs would go under unless they had a payday that would keep their program solvent. Saban also was against playing a top team at its home stadium. If that game wasn’t played at a neutral site, it wouldn’t happen. This SEC insistence of… Read more »

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
July 8, 2025 7:09 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Missing from the visual is the green or red trending arrow beside each. I’m pretty sure which arrow LR would get.