SANTIAGO (Chile) – Brazil soared to the top of Group A as it secured a commanding 73-46 win over Dominican Republic on Tuesday at Centro de Deportes Colectivos. It was Brazil's fourth win against the Dominican Republic in four AmeriCup meetings. Despite the 27-point margin, it was the smallest point difference between the two teams in those last four games.
Damiris Dantas reached 380 points in her AmeriCup career with her 10-point performance, tying Canada's Kim Gaucher as the second-highest AmeriCup scorer since 2003.
Turning point
While Brazil led for the entire game, it was in the third quarter where the team led by as many as 34 points. This allowed Brazil to rotate its ball handlers and scorers, with every single player on the team scoring at least two points in the win. Each player on Brazil also played at least nine minutes in the win, as well as collecting at least one rebound in the well-rounded effort for victory.
Player of the game
Bella Nascimento made a splash as the 22-year-old guard tallied 14 points, including scoring 4 three-pointers, shooting 44.4 percent from the arc. She also recorded seven assists in the win.
Stats don’t lie
Leading in many statistical categories, Brazil dominated in the turnovers department as it forced the Dominican Republic to commit 20, which resulted in 24 points for Brazil. The Brazilians also controlled the defensive game as they recorded 16 steals and 6 blocks compared to 6 steals and 2 blocks from their opponent. With her two blocks in today's game, Kamilla Cardoso reaches 28 in her AmeriCup career and becomes the second-highest blocker in the competition since 2003.
Bottom line
Brazil will now face El Salvador, the current last-place team in Group A, and has defeated each team by at least nine points. A defensive powerhouse with the ability to score, shooting 42 percent as a team against the Dominican Republic, will be looking to stay perfect in the Group Phase and get back on the podium.
They said
"I think we all played well, we played together, we shared the ball, we had more than 20 assists this game, so just us playing together and finally clicking, showing everybody what we can do," said Nascimento, referring to Brazil’s chemistry today. "It's about building rhythm and comfort, we've had an opportunity to see a lot of the young players today so that they get understanding of the level, but the time is really short, I think it's important to have that core group play some meaningful minutes so we can take it to the next round," said Brazil’s head coach Pokey Chatman.
FIBA