María Caraves stars as Paraguay beat Jamaica 71-69: FIBA Americas C’Ship for Women
María Caraves punctuated a team-high 21 points, including a game-winning layup with 37 seconds left, as Paraguay defeated Jamaica 71-69 on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at the FIBA Americas Women's Basketball Championship in Colombia.
It was the first victory for the Paraguayans in the tournament and they are now 3rd in Group B with 4 points.
In what was billed to be a battle of light weights, turned out to be a thriller as the spirited Jamaicans overcame a 16 point hole to go ahead by one with just a few seconds left on the clock. However, Caraves made her move just
at the right time. She first slipped in a layup, and thirty seconds later, she drew an opposition foul to get to the charity stripe. The 19-year-old star missed on her first attempt, but hit the bulls’ eye on the next, to ensure a remarkable win. Caraves went
8 for 13 from the field, including 4 for 6 from three-point range.
Paraguay’s shooting guard Tamara Insfran added 15 points and stole the ball three times while Johanna Ghirin Ghelli Perez had 13 points, four rebounds and two steals in the victory. Maria Mercado ended the game with 10 points on
3 for 9 shooting from the floor.
Nicole Louden once again led Jamaica with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds. The 28-year-old finished on 7 for 13 from the field and 9 for 12 from free throw line. Vanessa Gidden posted 17 points, but fell short of a double-double
with nine rebounds while Simone Ann-Marie Edwards totalled 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals in the defeat.
The two teams put up nearly the same numbers, both from the floor and the charity stripe. Jamaica shot 41.8 percent (23 for 55) field goals and 64.7 percent (22 for 34) free throws while Paraguay hit 41.7 percent (25 for 60) from
the field and 61.5 percent (8 for 13) from the line.
The Paraguayans got off to a terrific start and held a 21-5 lead with 02:03 to go in the first quarter. Jamaica then scored the last five points and trimmed their deficit to 11, 21-10. In the second quarter, Jamaica limited Paraguay
to only 15 points and made it a six-point contest, 36-30 going into the break.
Jamaica continued to play quality basketball in the third quarter and cut Paraguay’s lead to one, 52-51, with 11 seconds to go in the quarter. Before heading for the final quarter though, Huttemann knocked down a three for Paraguay,
stretching their lead to four points, 55-51.
Jamaica refused to sit back and continued to inch back before finally taking a point lead, on a Louden three, in the last minute. However, the clutch heroics from Castro meant that their excellent rally bore no fruit.
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