GUANAJUATO (Mexico) - On top of the gold medal match, the final day of action included the bronze medal match between Argentina and Mexico as well as the rest of the pool continuing to fight hard for their final classifications in the tournament. Here are the results from the final day of the FIAB U16 Americas Women’s Championship.

Mexico medals on home court
Both Argentina and Mexico had already secured their World Cup bids going into the game, but each one wanted hardware to show for their hard work in the competition as they entered the final game.

Though Argentina jumped out to a hot start, Mexico had a big second quarter scoring 22 points to lead by just one point heading into halftime, 31-30. After taking the lead at halftime, Mexico kept the lead for the rest of the game despite Argentina’s pressure from their starters.

Mexico came out hot again in the third, leading by eight points going into the fourth quarter, but Argentina refused to back down as they outscored their opponent 21-18, but fell short as Mexico took the bronze medal on home soil winning 72-65.

Delfina Cergneux, Angelina Giacone and Alma Bourgarel, three of Argentina’s stars all tournament, combined for 40 of Argentina’s 67 points, and Juana Amaya added 13 of her own, but the rest of the bench combined for only 14 points in the loss.

For Mexico, the electric crowd and home stadium played a part in their win, but it was Loriette Maciel, who was stellar for her team all tournament, scoring a solid 23-point contribution in the win. Gizelle Navarro added 18 points, her most all tournament, while Daniela Mendoza added her two-way play style with 12 points as well as 4 steals.

Puerto Rico rallies back against Brazil
Puerto Rico may not have gotten the results they wanted out of their quarterfinal game, but they rallied to finish in a respectable fifth place finish and end the competition on a high note.

With a back and forth first quarter, Puerto Rico jumped out to an 18-point lead at halftime that Brazil was unable to catch up with all game. Despite Brazil outscoring Puerto Rico in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough to take home the win to end their competition.

Puerto Rico’s well-rounded squad showed it’s depth once again as Sofia Munoz scored a whopping 30 points in the match, her most of the competition, while Nicole Carreno scored 11. Paloma Garcia had a near double-double stat line of 9 points and 9 rebounds while Dianne Crespo added 7 points and 9 rebounds of her own.

As she did all tournament, Ana Passos Alves Da Silva showed out for Brazil with a 10-point, 9 rebound performance, but Puerto Rico’s key to success was holding Taissa Nascimento Queiroz to just one point, though she still managed 12 rebounds including 11 defensively.

Chile finds second win against Costa Rica
Even the classification game for seventh place game down to the wire as both teams fought to the very last second to grind out one final win in the tournament.

Though Costa Rica dominated the first half, outscoring their opponent 33-20, and the deficit was kept even as both teams scored 11 points in the third quarter, Chile’s dominant fourth quarter, scoring 28 points to Costa Rica’s 14 earned them the win.

The 59-58 win was hard fought by Chile, though Costa Rica attempted a last second buzzer beater that only brought them within two points.

Maria Montero had a massive 22-point, 13 rebound performance for Costa Rica while Montserrat Murillo added another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

On the winning end, Chile’s standout Vania Vega was the only player to score in double figures with 19 points, though Francisca Quinteros added another 9 points for Chile in the win.

FIBA