SANTIAGO (Chile) – Puerto Rico came out sharp on offense from the opening tip and had no trouble securing its second victory by defeating Mexico 77-60, on Day 4 of the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2025, thanks to a dominant showing by Arella Guirantes, who posted 31 points and 12 rebounds. A 32-14 first quarter gave Puerto Rico a comfortable lead that proved enough to improve its record to 2-1 in Group B.
Turning point
Guirantes, Mya Hollingshed, and Trinity San Antonio scored Puerto Rico’s first 20 points during an opening 20-4 run that essentially sealed the game in the first quarter (32-14) in favor of the Caribbeans.
Player of the game
Guirantes finished with a double-double of 31 points and 12 rebounds, standing out as the top performer of the game with an efficiency rating of 30. The guard, currently playing professionally in China, spent 37 minutes on the court and shot 57 percent from the field. Her 31 points mark the third-highest individual scoring performance, tied with four other players, in Women’s AmeriCup history. For Mexico (1-2), Gabriela Jáquez and Claudia Ramos were the top scorers with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Stats don’t lie
In a game where most stats were fairly even between both teams, the key difference came from field goal efficiency. Puerto Rico shot 47 percent from the floor compared to Mexico’s 33 percent. The Mexican team attempted more shots (77), but their accuracy was inconsistent throughout the game.
Bottom line
Puerto Rican veteran Pamela Rosado, a symbol of women’s basketball in the Americas, now stands alone in fourth place for most games played (40) in FIBA Women’s AmeriCup history, trailing only Kim Gaucher of Canada (43), Suchitel Ávila and Yamara Amargo of Cuba (41). Additionally, with her seven assists, Rosado reached 112 all-time in AmeriCup play and is closing in on Ineidis Casanova (116) for second place on the tournament’s assists leaderboard.
They said
Puerto Rico’s head coach, Gerardo Batista, highlighted his team’s strong start to the game. “It was a great game on our part, especially the first quarter— I think that’s where the game was decided. We came out very strong on defense and efficient on offense, and then we were able to manage the rest. We prepared to face Mexico, a very talented opponent that we respect a lot,” said Batista during the postgame press conference. NOTE: All data is compiled from 2003 to the present day.
FIBA