Fourth Place for Canada at Women's AmeriCup

Canada's national women's team will now have to wait another two years to get their hands on the AmeriCup trophy after falling short in the 2021 tournament.

Following a flawless group stage performance they looked set to challenge for the title, but events unfolded in a very different way as they had done in previous years.

Canada continued their unbeaten streak in the quarter finals against the Dominican Republic - coming out firing from the low post and beyond the arc early on going on to hold their opponents to just eighteen points in the second half. They saw the most impressive offence from Aislinn Konig, who scored a game-high 23 points in just 21 minutes on the court in Canada's 90-53 takedown of the Dominicans.

Next up for them were hosts Puerto Rico, who didn't have it quite so easy against Colombia but came out with the 77-69 win in their quarter final match-up. Whoever was victorious here would go on to face either Brazil or the USA in the final.

An eventful start saw four lead changes in the first four minutes, after which Canada were cut off from basket while Puerto Rico went ahead by seven points. Konig and Laeticia Amihere worked the defensive end to prevent the islanders getting any further ahead, then managed eight points without reply to go in front midway through Q2.

Shaina Pellington was able to keep the Canadians' lead, which Jazmon Gwathmey was closing in on and followed by Ali Gibson, a three from whom put Puerto Rico level at the half time buzzer. The first points on the second half were Canada's but three lead changes later they were behind once again.

Pellington and Amihere combined to put the visitors up by three and they held the lead for much of the third quarter which was low on scoring, but high on defence with both teams working hard to shut the other out. A late layup from Dayshalee Salaman returned the lead to Puerto Rico and Jennifer O'Neill added to it early in the fourth.

Mistakes on defence saw Canada miss a number of scoring chances, but were able to keep it a single possession game as time wound down. Despite missed shots piling up, they were still within reaching distance of Puerto Rico in the closing moments, but two free-throws made by Pamela Roasado with four seconds to go made the final result official. There was nothing more Canada could do except resign themselves to the 65-61 semi final defeat.

Puerto Rico went on to try and best the USA in the final, while Canada could still claim third place in a consolation match-up against Brazil. After a steady scoring progression throughout the first half, they stalled in the third quarter, scoring just nine points and allowing Brazil to build a lead which reached as high as fifteen.

When it reached the business end of the game they were able to hold off Brazil and after a 10-0 run levelled the scores ahead of the final two minutes of regulation. Taina Paxiao tried to put it to bed for Brazilians at the end, but couldn't get them a big enough lead and in the end a three from Laeticia Amihere sent proceedings into overtime.

She continued her scoring streak in OT, keeping a trailing Canada within a single possession of Brazil throughout the extra period. At the end of which, the scores were still level and play continued. It was in the second period of overtime where Canada finally ran out of steam, repeatedly fell short at basket. Brazil on the other hand had eight points without reply, which secured them the bronze medal. Amihere was able to bow out on 22 points and 11 rebounds, but the win was Brazil's 87 points to 82.

In the final Puerto Rico had a promising start against the Americans, but ultimately greater skill and determination prevailed: the USA claimed their second straight and fourth total AmeriCup title with a final 74-59 victory over the hosts. For more on the tournament, follow this link to the official website.