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Italy women's basketball star tears into ref after missing game-tying shot vs US in Women's World Cup

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Cite

Gaydos, R. (2026, September 7). Italy women's basketball star tears into ref after missing game-tying shot vs US in Women's World Cup. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/italy-womens-basketball-star-tears-into-ref-missing-game-tying-shot-vs-us-womens-world-cup

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Fox News · collected 2026-09-07 · by Ryan Gaydos

Quick Summary

Cecilia Zandalasini, a star player for Italy's women's basketball team, was upset after being swiped in the face by Jackie Young of the US team while attempting a game-tying shot in their Women's World Cup game on Sunday. A foul was not called, and Zandalasini had to take a contested shot that she missed, leading to her outburst against the referees. She later apologized for her behavior, saying it was not sportsmanlike and making her feel embarrassed to wear the Italian jersey. The US team ultimately won 55-52, with Young scoring 10 points and Angel Reese adding 8.
Written by AI on 2026-09-07, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Women's Basketball World Cup teams were staying at a hotel in Berlin, Germany, when a fire alarm went off in the middle of the night around 2 a.m., forcing players and coaches to evacuate the building for about an hour. Fortunately, there was no actual fire, just someone who had pushed the emergency alarm button in the elevator. The incident didn't seem to affect Australia's performance, as they beat Turkey 87-71 later that day.

However, the Americans did face a tougher challenge in their next game against Italy, which ended with a narrow 55-52 win for the U.S. Despite struggling on offense, the Americans managed to pull ahead with a few timely baskets late in the game and a key defensive play by Chelsea Gray. The Italians gave the Americans all they could handle, but ultimately came up just short.

The game was marked by some controversy when Italy's Cecilia Zandalasini appeared to be poked in the eye by Jackie Young while attempting a three-pointer to tie the game with seconds left. Zandalasini was seen yelling at the referees and was eventually held back by staff members. She later apologized for her outburst, saying she had been "a different person" when wearing the Italian jersey.

The U.S. team has now won 32 consecutive World Cup games, dating back to a loss to Russia in 2006. Despite their struggles on offense, they showed resilience and determination in pulling off the narrow victory over Italy.

Written for “US Women's Basketball at World Cup” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US Women's Basketball at World Cup
Sports · 8 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 40 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Guardian
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 64/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
8
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-07 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6161 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ryan Gaydos
105 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Ryan Gaydos
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 105 articles by Ryan Gaydos →

Topics

FIBA Italian Italy U.S. World Cup

Subjects

Zandalasini PERSON · 5× U.S. GPE · 4× Italy GPE · 2× Young PERSON · 2× Americans NORP · 1× Angel Reese PERSON · 1× Cecilia Zandalasini PERSON · 1× FIBA ORG · 1× Italian NORP · 1× Jackie Young PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Zandalasini was looking to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the closing moments of Italy’s 55-52 loss to the U.S. She was creating space while being guarded by Jackie Young.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-07
🔮 "I would like to apologize for the way I reacted," she said in the postgame press conference.

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

Zandalasini was looking to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the closing moments of Italy’s 55-52 loss to the U.S. She was creating space while being guarded by Jackie Young. asserted
She → look → Young
As she was dribbling, she reacted as though Young swiped her in the face. asserted
Young → dribble → face
No foul was called and Zandalasini was forced to put up a contested shot. asserted
Zandalasini → call → shot
She missed and the game was over. asserted
game → miss → ?
However, Zandalasini was not finished with the officials. asserted
Zandalasini → finish → officials
She was seen yelling at them and needed to be held back by some staff members. asserted
She → see → members
Zandalasini apologized for her outburst later. asserted
Zandalasini → apologize → outburst
"I would like to apologize for the way I reacted," she said in the postgame press conference. asserted
she → like → conference
When I wear this jersey, it’s just a different me I guess. asserted
I → wear → jersey
I feel embarrassed. asserted
I → feel → ?
I just wanted to say that out loud and to whoever watches." asserted
whoever → want → that
Zandalasini finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes. asserted
Zandalasini → finish → minutes
Italy had the U.S. on the ropes the entire game before the Americans utilized their interior offense to draw fouls and grab free points at the foul line. asserted
Americans → have → line
Young led the way for the U.S. with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. asserted
Young → lead → points
Angel Reese added eight points and three rebounds. asserted
Reese → add → points
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