USA, Canada sweep group stage; Puerto Rico pull off comeback on Colombia

YUCATAN (Mexico) - The final day of group stage at the 2023 FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship featured wins from still-unbeaten USA and Canada, while Brazil and Puerto Rico also picked up victories.

USA and Canada finished atop of Group A and B, respectively, while Puerto Rico and Argentina took second place in their groups with 2-1 records.

Mexico and Dominican Republic remain the only teams without wins.

Here's a look at Day 3's final group play games:

Argentina 45 - 92 Canada

Argentina hung around for one quarter until Canada stepped on the gas and put the game out of reach to finish Group B 3-0 and drop Argentina to 2-1 in the group.

Argentina held the lead for about five and a half minutes in the first quarter before Canada went on a 13-2 run from the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter.

Canada had a balanced scoring attack once again.

Deniya Prawl led them with a team-high 15 points along with 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists, and five other players scored at least 9 points including Chance Berry (14 points), Savannah Swords (10 points), Cearah Parchment (10 points) as well as Eirny Erinugha and Jordyn Wheeler, who each scored 9 points.

The tournament leader in steals (by a big margin) is Canada and they continued that trend with another 17 steals today. Five players swiped away at least 2 steals. Canada also scored more points in the paint (54) than Argentina did as a team (45) and connected on 45 percent of their shots from the field.

By finishing in first place in Group B, Canada will take on Mexico (0-3, fourth place from Group A) in the Quarterfinals.

Despite the loss, Argentina finished second in Group B and will face Colombia (1-2, third place from Group A) in the Quarterfinals.

Brazil 71 - 62 Dominican Republic

Brazil got into the win column on the last day of group stage after defeating Dominican Republic by 9 points.

After leading by 10 points at halftime, Brazil took control and outscored them 20-9 in the third quarter. Momentum shifted back to Dominican Republic in the final quarter, as they had a 19-7 edge, but their deficit was too big to overcome.

Four players reached double figures for Brazil, as they were led by Micaela Cavalcanti who finished with a game-high 19 points along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. The 15-year-old guard knocked down 6-of-14 shots from three-point range, the most made threes by a player so far in the tournament.

Three players recorded a double-double for the winners, as Sther Ubaka had 12 points and 16 rebounds, Sofia Borges had 15 points and 15 rebounds and Sara Martins had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Two players had double-doubles of their own for Dominican Republic. Alanna Monte put up 12 points and 14 rebounds and Karina Capellan with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Brazil shared the ball effectively, dishing out 16 assists on 20 of their made field goals.

Brazil finished third in Group B with a record of 1-2 and will face Puerto Rico (2-1, second place in Group A) in the Quarterfinals.

Dominican Republic, meanwhile, rounded out their group stage 0-3 and will meet USA (3-0, first in Group A) in the Quarterfinals.

Puerto Rico 67 - 62 Colombia

This was the game of the day, as Puerto Rico emerged victorious over Colombia to clinch second place in Group A.

There was no separation between the two teams after the first 10 minutes, and that trend continued for most of the game.

Colombia held a seven-point lead at halftime, but Puerto Rico mounted a comeback in the second half and won the final 20 minutes 35-23. They went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter that helped put the game away.

Only five players scored for Puerto Rico, but that was enough to get the job done. Jaida Guerra scored 21 points, her second consecutive game scoring at least 20 points. The 5'1" guard converted 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.

Desirek Nieves now has back-to-back double-doubles after putting up 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Marta Moscarella continued her strong tournament for Colombia and recorded a game-high 22 points along with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. The 5'11" 15-year-old also made 10-of-20 shots from the field.

Putting the ball in the basket at a more efficient rate proved to be an important factor in this matchup. Puerto Rico took 10 fewer total shots than Colombia (61 compared to 71), yet they made one more shot and were +7.7 in shooting percentage.

Mexico 27 - 123 USA

USA put on another dominant performance, defeating Mexico 123-27 in the last game of the group stage.

The Americans swept through Group A with a whopping +245-point differential thanks to another unreal showing by their offense, which shot 50.5 percent from the field and had 27 assists (tournament high) on 54 made baskets (tournament high).

Jerzy Robinson and Jayla Jackson, who both led the way with 17 points apiece, were two of six different players scoring in double figures.

All 11 of USA's players got into the scoring column and 10 of them scored at least 8 points. McKenna Woliczko had a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double in only 14 minutes, Hailee Swain and Aaliyah Crump each added 15 points and Kelsi Andrews chipped in 12 points.

USA also posted a tournament-high 78 rebounds for the second time. 

Friday is a rest day for the tournament before Quarterfinal action tips off on Saturday. USA will look to keep the momentum going forward. Hosts Mexico on the other hand, will face another challenge in Canada, the other 3-0 team left alongside USA.

FIBA