Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers already making presence felt for US national team

BERLIN (AP) — Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are going to be the next generation of players to lead the U.S. women’s national team. They’re already making their presence felt in their first major international competition.

Clark and Bueckers each scored 14 points in the opening win over China on Friday while Reese had nine rebounds and played strong defense on 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu . Next up is Italy on Saturday.

The blueprint for the American success over the past three decades , which has seen eight straight Olympic gold medals and four consecutive World Cup titles, has been to build rosters with experienced veterans mixed with the next set of young stars. That way they'll be ready when their names are called.

“I think it’s all cyclical,” said Sue Bird, the first managing director of the national team . “You know, I think if you go back, it’s always kind of been that the amount of vets versus newcomers — if you wanted to like categorize it that way — does fluctuate and move through time. This cycle of players is younger, but obviously (Kelsey) Plum and A’ja (Wilson) would have tipped the scale the other way if they had played.”

Bird said there’s always been that passing of the torch. She played her first World Cup in 2002 and was a backup to Dawn Staley. By the 2006 tournament, she was leading the U.S. — a spot she held alongside Diana Taurasi until both retired from international play a few years ago.

Now it's Breanna Stewart and Wilson, who is missing this tournament for health reasons, as the veteran leaders. Eventually it will be Clark, Reese and Bueckers. For now, they are part of the second-youngest World Cup team the Americans have fielded , with an average age of just under 27 years old, over the past three decades. They are just a little bit older than the 1994 team that won bronze.

“We can kind of rely on each other, lean on each other,” Reese said of her young teammates. “This is our first big national event, so being able to play with each other, learn each other and go through these learning process together, it’s fun."

Many of them had played together on younger U.S. teams and had success, but playing for the senior team has a different feel to it.

Stewart made her national team debut in the 2014 World Cup. She was still in college then. Now 32, she's the leader of this squad.

“This is just kind of like the rite of passage,” Stewart said. “You continue to keep showing up and it becomes your turn. You got Paige, Angel and Caitlin who played on teams when they were younger and they keep coming back. So when it's their time this shift isn't as dramatic. They are faces that are known throughout the program.”

One thing that's new to that trio, who are each 24, is coming off the bench. All understand the importance of the roll.

“We were talking about it on the bus: Like, none of us have ever come off the bench before. So it’s our first time kind of seeing it from a different perspective,” Reese said. “Seeing how the game is played and then being able to go in and already know what’s going on. I think that that’s a different perspective for me.”

Reese said coach Kara Lawson has talked to the group, which also includes Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, and explained that the key is to not have there be any letup when they come in.

“There's no drop-off,” Reese said. “I think our young and turnt group is going to be around for a while.”

The young players, who are competitors in the WNBA, already are starting to form a chemistry with one another on the U.S. team.

“Obviously it’s really fun to play with Paige,” Clark said after practice. “I’ve grown up playing against her, and with her, from a very young age. Very fun experience to be here, I think she’s one of the best off-ball players in the league. She cuts really well, she has a great feel for the game. I think our chemistry has been really good. Just gaining more and more momentum through that as we go through the tournament.”

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here