BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017) - For Puerto Rico, the clash against Mexico wasn't simply another game. The wound has yet to heal since their defeat against that same rival during the Centrobasket that took place at the US Virgin Islands in July, which caused the team to later on fail to obtain the title. “It hurt very much because we practically lost the gold medal due to that game. It became a bit personal for us", point guard Dayshalee Salamán admitted.

However, the story went the other way around at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium at the FIBA AmeriCup Argentina 2017. The Puerto Rican squad could dominate the game’s development from beginning to end, and clearly triumphed 69-49; with 13 points by shooting guard Allison Gibson, and 9 by forwards Tayra Meléndez and Marie Plácido.

But, as the saying goes, one might "miss the forest for the trees.” Although the expectation of passing on to the FIBA Basketball World Cup exists, the real objective of the Puerto Rico National Program is to keep driving this process that began three years ago under the direction of coach Gerardo Batista Santiago.

“We began a renovation process a while ago. Everyone wishes to win from the start, but the important thing is to build up little by little. Here, we're missing four of our regular roster players, but we’ll keep on being competitive. We're adding experience to this team. If we're able to qualify for the World Cup, it's good. If we can’t, we'll keep on working for the future,” said Santiago, the head of the team that averages 26 years of age.

He then added: “Sofía Roma (21, Duke University), Sandra García (27), Carla Cortijo (30) —who’s our best player and is now injured—, Jennifer O’Neill (27) and Jazmin Gwathmey (24, Indiana Fever), Jazmín Sepúlveda (32) —one of our veterans—, Damika Martínez (25) and Yashira Delgado (25) are players that, for several reasons, could not be here with us, which means that the process has held up a bit. We hope to reunite them next year. The best way to develop the game is to play in these tournaments. The objective is to be very competitive on 2020.”

“All teams go through the process of bringing new and young players. We have done so quite well until now, we've been learning a lot and listening to the coach," added Salamán, who is excited about the possibility of her country playing among the best four teams of the tournament. “Of course we can make it to the semi-finals. To do so, we must focus and play on a game-to-game basis,” she concluded.

Puerto Rico will face Canada tomorrow, at 9:05 PM (host country hour).

FIBA