Canada Conquered by USA, Take Americas Under-16 Silver
The final of the 2019 FIBA Americas Women’s Under-16 Championship was a clash between the tournaments two undefeated teams.
Canada earned their place in the final after dispatching host nation Chile 50-38 in the semi finals, while the USA were, as always, rampant against Puerto Rico, This was the fourth time these teams had met in the tournament’s final.
Having handed out heavy defeats all week, this time Canada were on the receiving end of one. The USA kept them scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game, but Lauren Audino’s layup being the only points scored by Canada in the first quarter.
The USA did not let up after this commanding first quarter and dominated the remaining three as well - they were rampant both on offence and defence, as well as in the paint, where the scored more than half their points.
With Payton Verhulst the USA’s go-to on offence, recording a game-high 18 points, and Lauren Betts taking care of the defence, finishing with 14 total rebounds, the favourites cruised home to a fifty-point victory over Canada. They bring home the trophy, while Verhulst was also awarded the title of tournament MVP.
Canada faced a tall order in trying to overcome the USA, but bringing home the silver medal, they finished in the best possible place behind the unconquerable Americans. Avianna Thompson was the stand-out for Canada in the tournament with averages of 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, behind only Isaline Alexander, the top rebounder with an average 8.2 total boards.
Elsewhere, Chile registered their best tournament finish in front of the home crowds.
After trailing Puerto Rico for the first half, they turned it around and took a double-digit lead in the second, going on to win the game 59-49 as well as the bronze medal. Nina De Leon had 27 points for Puerto Rico, while Chile’s star Fernanda Ovalle finished off her tournament in style with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
In the game for fifth place, Ecuador led Brazil from beginning to end with Bianca Quinonez leading the scoring with 20 points in the 59-47 victory for the Ecuadorians.
Finally, El Salvador had an early 10-0 lead over Mexico in the seventh place match-up, but Mexico stepped up their rebounding and close-range play to go on to win 61-38. Mariana Valenzuela had a double-double of 13 points and 17 rebounds for Mexico in the win.
For full information on everything in the tournament, click here to visit the official website.
Picture: FIBA.com
