After a nail-biting win over Italy, Team USA responded convincingly in its final World Cup group stage game a day later, defeating Czechia 105-64. The victory Monday in Berlin clinched first place in Group D for the Americans, allowing them to bypass the qualification for the quarterfinals. They await the winner of Hungary versus Japan in the final eight Thursday.Team USA’s offense was much cleaner than it was in a 55-52 win against Italy. The four-time defending World Cup champs exceeded their total score from Sunday with 57 first-half points against Czechia, and they finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field. Against the Czech defense that suffocated the paint and sprinkled in occasional zone defense, the 3-ball opened things for the Americans. Breanna Stewart hit their first triple within the first minute, and Team USA had seven on the day.Stewart set the tone in many ways in the first quarter. She rebounded from a rough shooting outing in the second group stage contest by hitting 8 of 11 field goals and scoring 19 points. She also posted six assists with zero turnovers and spearheaded the Americans’ transition offense with her rim-running.“I wanted to come out and really lead this team in a number of ways,” Stewart said on the broadcast postgame. “Wanted to make sure that today we really took things into our own hands and really lead by example.”