Big fourth quarter helps Brazil pull out victory against Venezuela

LEON (Mexico) – Brazil stayed undefeated at the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup after defeating Venezuela 90-76 in their second game of the competition on Sunday afternoon at Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Just as they did against Cuba, Brazil came out strong as Damiris Dantas once again led the charge, already in double digits with 13 points including shooting 66 percent from the three-point arc after just eight minutes on the court.

Brazil, a defensive minded squad, also controlled the boards both ways and forced Venezuela to take off-balance shots, shooting just 33 percent as a team early despite being a fast-paced team able to convert turnovers and score in transition thanks to two-way players like Waleska Perez.

The second quarter was a much closer affair as the two teams traded baskets back and forth, but a push from Brazil saw them lead by 10 at the half as Sassá Gonçalves and Kamilla Cardoso once again stepped up in scoring while Cardoso also led the defensive charge off the glass.

Despite trailing coming into the third quarter, Venezuela still had fight in them and scored 21 points while holding Brazil to 15, the first time they scored less than 19 points in a quarter yet during this competition.

Daniela Wallen had another sharpshooting game from the floor while Mariana Duran helped offset the scoring responsibility as they pushed all game to bring Venezuela within 4 points heading into the final quarter of action.

But Brazil kicked into another gear in the last 10 minutes as they came into the competition with one of the deepest benches, and their 51 bench points in the game proved just that as Tainá Paixao and Débora Costa added to Brazil’s tally to help them outscore Venezuela 29-19 and seal a comfortable win.

Dantas led Brazil with 17 points while Cardoso added 15 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks and Paixao tallied 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists for Brazil to move them to 2-0 in the competition.

Wallen led not just Venezuela but all scorers with 20 points on 53 percent shooting from field goal range while Duran contributed 14 points and 5 assists and Perez tipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

FIBA