LYON-VILLEURBANNE (France) - It looked a tricky task for Korea heading to Lyon-Villeurbanne, but they pocketed a FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 ticket with a game to spare thanks to the record-breaking shooting of Leeseul 'The Conqueror' Kang. The most standout aspect of Korea's tournament and a driving force behind their trio of wins against Nigeria, Colombia and Philippines has been the hot-hand of Kang from downtown.
Without hesitation, she has embraced the green light from her coaches to let it fly and with the dedication of her teammates in finding her open, she made it rain with an all-time high 8 triples in the 105-74 success against Philippines.
"Coach Park always tells me to shoot whenever I get even a small opportunity," revealed Kang afterwards.
"As a team, we also run transition plays designed to create better shooting opportunities for our shooters. Many of our set plays are built to help shooters get open shots. Because the team and the coach trust me that much, I try to take more shots and work harder to make more of them."
She continued: "Until my second year as a professional, I wasn’t actually a shooter. During the process of changing my position, I practiced several times more than others. Now that my shooting fundamentals and feel are well established, I focus on practicing moving shots and game-situation shooting.
"Because of that, I’ve developed the confidence to shoot in any situation, with any kind of balance, and believe that I can make the shot at any time."
Setting a new Qualifying Tournament record is, of course, the headline. But the sheer volume of shots taken from downtown feels almost unprecedented in the women's global game. Kang has put up a staggering 13.5 shots per outing in the four games so far on French soil, in less than 26 minutes of average playing time.
She shoots at a higher rate attempt than Steph Curry!
For comparison, Stephen Curry—arguably the best shooter in the history of the game—posted his highest attempts-per-game average in the 2020–21 NBA season, with 12.7 attempts per game. He played 34 minutes per game that season, which equals a rate of 0.37 attempts per minute.
In the Qualifying Tournament, Leeseul's rate... is 0.51.
Importantly though, she's been feeling it and coming up with the buckets that matter. And, not for the first time, having also sunk seven triples in a game at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney.
So, don't be surprised if she continues with the downtown deluge when the action gets underway in Berlin this September.
"It’s the biggest tournament that takes place every four years, and events like this give us the chance to compete against very strong teams filled with talented players from other countries," smiled Kang.
"I’m happy to have the opportunity to experience that again by qualifying for the main tournament. There are many opinions that Korean women’s basketball has lost its international competitiveness, but during the process of qualifying for the World Cup, we were able to play evenly against strong teams and show that we still have the ability to compete.
"I hope that Korean women’s basketball will continue this historic streak beyond 17 consecutive appearances and keep the record going," concluded Kang.
Most individual 3PT field goals scored in a single game in Qualifying Tournaments*
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent & Score | Date | 3PT Made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Leeseul Kang | Korea | vs Philippines 105-74 | March 15, 2026 | 8 |
2 | Antonia Delaere | Belgium | vs China 80-65 | March 12, 2026 | 7 |
- | Saki Hayashi | Japan | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 82-87 | February 13, 2022 | 7 |
*First introduction of the WWCQT in 2022
FIBA