MIAMI (United States) – The local team arrives at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup with high expectations due to being the host country and having the home crowd behind them. They'll also be buoyed the debut of head coach Lindsey Harding, who was announced in her role in late 2022 but couldn't coach at 2022 Women's Centrobasket – where her assistant, Ebony Hoffman, was at the helm. Harding, a former WNBA player with six different franchises, is coming off a stint as the head coach of the South Sudan national team and has experience as a developmental coach in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers and as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.

FIBA Women's World Ranking, presented by Nike: 45

Between the 1950s and 1990s, Mexico participated very sporadically at the international level, with three World Cup appearances and four Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament participations. Since then, their best showings have come at COCABA Championships and Centrobasket. They're currently the 10th ranked team in the Americas.

Women's AmeriCup appearances (including 2023): 9

They made their debut in 1999 in Havana, Cuba with a pleasantly surprising fourth-place finish. Since then, they missed it in four occasions (2005, 2009, 2015 and 2021).

Most recent appearance: 2019

Their last participation was two editions ago in Puerto Rico. There, they didn't have their best showing, finishing with a 0-4 record after losing to Canada, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Dominican Republic, finishing last in Group A and ninth overall.

Best showing: 1999, 2003

The fourth-place finish in Havana in their debut was their best showing at the tournament. Four years later, as hosts in Culiacan, they repeated the feat in 2003.

Players to watch:

They already set their 12-woman roster and the experienced Gladys Ávila (who will play in her seventh senior team tournament) will lead the way after being 2022 Centrobasket's top scorer with 16.3 points per game (and 5.3 assists per game). Those were her best marks at the national team level and the 28-year-old forward (recently named MVP of the Malta domestic league) is looking to consolidate her role as the team's star. Point guard Paola Beltrán (15.3 points and 3.3 assists) and center Jacqueline Luna Castro (10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds) were also instrumental in the good showing at Centrobasket and are set to reprise their key roles.

How they qualified:

The Aztec squad finished second at 2022 Centrobasket played in Chihuahua, Mexico. In that tournament, they finished with a 3-1 record, losing to Puerto Rico in the final.

Tournament projection:

They've proven in the past that playing at home suits them well, with the fourth-place AmeriCup finish in Culiacan in 2003 and the silver medal in last year's Centrobasket, so they'll try to capitalize on that to have another good showing. However, they'll first have to get through Group B, where Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Colombia have had better results both in the recent past and in the present.

FIBA