FIBA Americas Women’s Championship September 26 Review: Cuba and Argentina win
Cuba 75 – Colombia 65
On the third day of the 2011 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship, Cuba defeated hosts Colombia 75-65 in a Group A game on Monday. Although, Colombia shot well both from the field (56 percent) and the paint (73 percent), but Cuba
dominated opposition with their high percentage from the three-point region (33 percent) in comparison to Cubans’ (22 percent).
With this win, Cuba grabbed their second win of the tournament, while Colombians have won just one game so far. After playing three games in the competition, Cuba stands at No. 2, while Cuba is sitting at the fourth spot in their
group.
Oyanaisy Gelis Gonzalez paced the Cubans to victory. She tallied 22 points, five assists and four rebounds. On the night, she pinned five of 10 shot from the field while from the free throw line, she made nine of 10. Team-mate
Clenia Noblet Salazar added 18 points and clutched seven rebounds in the victory.
Both the teams made a strong start, as they traded baskets in an attempt to register their dominance over the other. However, at the end of both first (15-15) and second (31-31), the scores remained tied.
Things turned around in the second half of the game, when Cuba made the charge and eventually burst through the defences of the Colombian squad to surge ahead with 53-50 advantage by the time third quarter ended.
Cuba played an even better defence in the final 10 minutes of the game to restrict Colombia to just 15 points in the quarter, easing to a 75-65 win.
Erika Yaneth Valek Mantilla of Colombia responded with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. She made seven of 12 from the field and five of six from the charity stripe.
Argentina 66 – Puerto Rico 61
In another Group A game on Monday, Argentina managed to overcame Puerto Rico 66-61 in a preliminary-round of the 2011 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship. Argentina clutched 46 rebounds and dished out 12 assists in the entire game,
while Puerto Rico grasped 40 boards and provided 10 assists.
Puerto Ricans managed to match team Argentina in overall field goal shooting, but Argentineans outperformed them from the three-point area. As Argentina shot 32 percent, in comparison Puerto Rico shot just 19 percent from the area.
Erica Carolina Sanchez helped Argentina in the securing the game, as she hit game-high 27 points and grasped six rebounds for the winners. She went six of six from the charity strip and six of 12 from the field.
Agostina Paola Burani chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Argentinean squad.
Puerto Rico started forcefully and asserted their dominance by registering a quick spurt that left reeling Argentina behind. Before Argentina got themselves aligned, Puerto Rico ended the first quarter leading them by 25-15.
Argentina quickly shed their tardiness in the second quarter and tightened their defence. That restricted Puerto Rico to just 10 points during the quarter. While from the other end Argentinean offense kept pouring in the baskets
that reduced the deficit to six points (35-29) by the time both teams went into the lockers for break.
The battle for supremacy got intense after the break, as both teams exchanged baskets on regular intervals, but Puerto Rico didn’t allow Argentina to snatch the lead from them. This ended another term in Puerto Rico’s favour by
54-49 advantage.
However, the Puerto Ricans went cooled in the final 10 minutes of the game, as Argentina out performed them with their 17-7 run to clinch a surprise win from their opponents.
Jazmine Sepulveda ended the game with 15 points and six rebounds for the Puerto Ricans. Cynthia Marie Valentin and Carla Daniela Cortijo Sanchez both accounted 13 points each in the losing effort.
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