Argentina take down Puerto Rico for bronze, earn third ever medal

YUCATAN (Mexico) - Argentina claimed the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship, their third all-time medal at the event, after defeating Puerto Rico 67-58.

The game had no separation after two quarters and was all tied up at 31. Puerto Rico took a four-point lead late in the third quarter until a half-court buzzer-beater by Isabella Ingenito cut the deficit to 48-47 and swung the momentum in Argentina's favor for the rest of the game.

 

A 20-10 advantage in the fourth quarter put the game away for Argentina.

Milagros Morell posted a huge 22-point, 15-rebound double-double along with 2 steals and 2 blocks on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. She played all 40 minutes.

Ingenito knocked down multiple clutch three-pointers in addition to her half-court heave, as she also made a three that stretched Argentina's lead to 9 points with under a minute left. The 15-year-old recorded 16 points and 4 rebounds off the bench and converted 4-of-9 from behind the arc.

Puerto Rico finished with 10 made threes, tied for the most in a single game in the tournament, but they only got 27.5 percent of their two-point shots to fall. They also had a scoring drought in the last quarter that lasted almost four minutes.

Adriana Robles (16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists, 4-of-4 3P) and Desirek Nieves (13 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) combined for 50 percent of Puerto Rico's points.

Puerto Rico were looking for their first ever medal in the competition but settled for 4th place and finished with three wins.

Here's a look at the two final Classification Games:

Dominican Republic 61 - 90 Mexico

The hosts secured their first win of the tournament and finished on a high note for 7th place after defeating Dominican Republic in convincing fashion.

Sandra Acuna stuffed the stat sheet with 29 points (most by a player in the tournament), 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. The 15-year-old also made 52.4 percent of her shots from the field, 2-of-5 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free-throws.

Mariant Castillo added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists off the bench, while Ariadna Vidales finished with 15 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.

Alanna Monte had another solid game for Dominican Republic with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists, while Arianna Mercado had a team-high 13 points and Carmela Nunez and Leila Nunez each scored 12 points.

Dominican Republic had a couple close calls but finished the tournament winless and in 8th place.

Colombia 53 - 41 Brazil

Colombia concluded their tournament by earning 5th place after a win over Brazil.

Colombia trailed 16-6 after the first quarter and 22-16 at halftime, but they made their comeback in the final two quarters and outscored Brazil 37-19.

Marta Moscarella turned in a star performance for Colombia, finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

Maria Acosta (10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) was the other player to score in double figures for the winners, while Maria Perez had a well-balanced game of 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Sara Martins had a team-high 16 points along with 7 rebounds and Sofia Borges just missed a double-double with 9 points and 13 rebounds. These two players combined to make nine of Brazil's 15 shots from the field.

Brazil closes out the tournament with a 6th place finish, having earned two wins.

FIBA