BARQUISIMETO (South American Women’s Championship) - Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela won in Day 4 and secured semifinal spots in the 2016 South American Championship. Paraguay who also won and remains undefeated has a date with Colombia to figure out the 4th and final spot to the semifinals of the competition. 

With another great offensive performance, Paraguay defeated Chile, 83-69, to improve to a 2-0 record, in Group A action. Showing great rotation and precision from long range, Paraguay built an early lead on the scoreboard, thanks to a 47% percent from long range. It was a shooting exhibition put on by the Paraguayans that allowed them to keep the lead in the scoreboard against a Chilean squad that tried to fight their way into the game by scoring in the paint. But the math did not add up and Paraguay was much too effective in their second win in the competition.

Maria Mercado was the top scorer for Paraguay with 24 points, 16 of those coming during the first half of the contest with 4 three-pointers made early.

Brazil continued their dominant path through the first phase of the South American Championship, with a win over Colombia, 76-55. Colombia was able to match-up well against the physicality of the Brazilians in the paint during the first minutes of the game. But it was a matter of time until Brazil switched their strategy and became a team looking to score on the fastbreak, disabling Colombia's frontcourt from being able to arrive and be present on the defensive side of the court. At the end of the first half, Brazil had a 15-point lead and Colombia could not recover. The Brazilians improved to 3-0 and secured a spot in the semifinals and the 2017 FIBA Americas Championship with the win.

Once again, Iziane Castro took full advantage of the quick tempo that was established by her team and was the top player for Brazil with 22 points. Narlyn Mosquera had 12 points for Colombia in a losing effort.

Argentina was absolutely dominant over Peru by the score of 89-15. Cristian Santander’s team came out strong on the defensive side of the court and it opened up plenty of scoring opportunities that allowed Argentina to take a 31-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The dominance continued and the Argentinians improved to a 2-0 record and secured a spot in the 2016 South American Women’s Championship semifinals along with a spot in the 2017 FIBA Americas Championship.

With 15 points, Sthefany Thomas was the top scorer for the Argentinians in the victory.

Venezuela was also impressive in their second appearance in front of their fans in the South American Championship and defeated Ecuador by a score of 91-46. Oscar Silva’s team was effective from long distance (shooting 50% from three-point land) and ending up with six players scoring in double figures. The host was able to build a lead from early on in the game and get important support from their bench players, who scored 48 points in the win. Venezuela improved to 2-0 and also secured a spot in the semifinals of the competition along with a spot in the 2017 FIBA Americas Championship.

Waleska Perez was the top scorer for Venezuela with 16 points.

Tomorrow in the last day of Group B action, Ecuador will take on Peru, and in a battle of the undefeated Venezuela will take on Argentina. Meanwhile on Group A, Uruguay will take on Chile and Paraguay will face Colombia in a key game that will determine the final qualified team to the semifinals. Brazil will have the day off.

FIBA