The FIBA Women’s World Cup is now over. The United States won their 5th straight gold medal, France won the silver medal for the first time in it’s country’s history and Spain won the bronze medal. The WNBA season will resume on Thursday and there will be so much to decide, such as the upcoming playoff seeds to the lottery standings.
Before we resume the WNBA season, there were a lot of rookies who played for their national teams during the FIBA Women’s World Cup. There has been an increase in international talent as the WNBA continues to grow and expand and become more global and popular. These rookies did their best to try to help their country win.
Listed below are the top 5 rookies who stood out during the FIBA Women’s World Cup that took place from September 4th, 2026, to September 13th, 2026. This is the ninth edition of WNBA Rookies Watch and the eighth edition of WNBA Rookies Watch can be found here.
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WNBA Rookies Watch – Week 9 – Rookies who stood out during the FIBA Women’s World Cup
- Isobel Borlase – PG – Australia – Atlanta Dream
Isobel Borlase was brilliant and is the starting future point guard for Team Australia as she averaged 11. 6 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 3 assists per game in the 4 games Australia played in. In the qualifying win to get to the quarterfinals against Team Italy, Isobel Borlase was excellent. She played 31 minutes and scored a career-high 30 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists to help Australia narrowly escape with a close win. However, in the quarterfinals against Team Spain, she struggled from the field and was held scoreless from the field. Australia lost to Spain and they finished in sixth place overall in the tournament.
2) Awa Fam – C – Spain – Seattle Storm
Awa Fam will continue to develop a strong front court for Team Spain as she averaged 10.8 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game in the 6 games Spain played in. Her best performance came against Team Japan in the group phase when she finished the game with a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists. She did try her best during the semifinals against Team USA in which she finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds in a close loss. However, Team Spain ended the tournament on a positive note and Awa Fam contributed by scoring 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in a blowout bronze medal game against Team Germany.
3) Jihyun Park – SF – Korea – Los Angeles Sparks
Jihuyn Park started off the tournament on a high as her best performance came against Team Nigeria in the group phase stage. She finished the game with a game high 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals in just under 30 minutes in a blowout win. Despite losing to Team Hungary in the group phase stage, she still scored 21 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in a close loss. However, she was held to just 2 points in a blowout loss in the group phase stage against Team France and struggled shooting from the field in the qualification to the quarterfinals against Team Germany and finished with just 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the blowout loss. Team Korea has much work to do to become a good team as they finished 10th in the tournament but Jihuyn Park was a bright spot for them.
4) Frieda Buhner – PF – Germany – Portland Fire
Frieda Buhner was excellent during the 7 games Team Germany played in. She averaged 11.7 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists per game and her best game came against Team Mali in the group phase stage. She finished the game with a game high 21 points and 3 rebounds in a blowout win. She was excellent as well in the group phase stage game against Team Japan as well in which she finished the game with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. She continued to be a key contributor for Germany as she scored 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in the qualification to the quarterfinals game against Team Korea. She followed it up with 13 points, 3 rebounds in the quarterfinals against Team Belgium. However, she was held to single digits against Team Spain twice (first in the group phase stage and then in the bronze medal game). She was also held to just 2 points against Team France in a loss in the semi-finals. Despite finishing 4th in the tournament, Team Germany played well in front of their home country, in front of their home fans and with international NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki cheering them on.
5) Eliska Joklova – SG – Czechia – Minnesota Lynx
Eliska Joklova tried her best to help her country win. She averaged 14.7 points per game, 6 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game in the 3 games Czechia played in during the group phase stage. Team Czechia did not advance past the group phase stage as they lost all three group phase games, but Eliska Joklova scored in double-figures in losses against Team USA and Team China and was three points shy of finishing with a double-double in a loss against Team Italy.
Honourable mention: Pauline Astier, PG, France, New York Liberty, Mai Yamamoto, PG, Japan, Las Vegas Aces, Alicia Florez, PG, Spain, Washington Mystics
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