2026 World Cup: Steph Talbot's 19 Points Lead Australia to Wire-to-Wire Win Over Puerto Rico

Australia opened its FIBA Women's World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, controlling the game from the opening tip to a 70-54 win over Puerto Rico at Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin on Friday. The Opals never trailed, and their 16-point final margin matched the largest lead they built all night, a fitting cap to a performance defined by control rather than drama.
Steph Talbot (188-F-1994) set the tone throughout, finishing with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in 33 minutes and 16 seconds, shooting a near-perfect 7 of 9 from the field including 4 of 6 from three-point range without picking up a single foul. Her plus-20 rating and game-high efficiency of 25 reflected an evening in which she was involved on both ends, adding 2 steals as Australia pulled away for good with an 11-0 run late in the third quarter, a burst in which Talbot alone scored 6 points on 3-of-3 shooting to turn a 40-38 game into a 51-38 laugher in the space of just over three minutes. Eziyoda Magbegor (193-C-1999) added a double-double bid with 11 points and 9 rebounds, Alanna Smith (193-F-1996, college: Stanford) made her mark off the bench with 10 points and 8 boards in just over 12 minutes, and Jade Melbourne (178-G-2002, college: Arizona St.) chipped in 10 points as part of a balanced Australian attack that got scoring from five different players in double figures or close to it.
Puerto Rico's lone bright spot came from Arella Guirantes (181-SG-1997, college: Rutgers), who posted a double-double of her own with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the team briefly threatened a response early on, closing a 19-6 deficit to 19-16 behind a 10-0 run sparked by Brianna Jones (177-G-1997, college: Georgetown) and Trinity San Antonio (180-G-2003, college: GCU) at the first-quarter turn. But Australia snuffed out that momentum quickly and never let Puerto Rico draw level again, extending its dominance to a 16-point cushion twice in the final quarter before closing out the win.