Everything you need to know before the start of the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup

LEON (Mexico) – The 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup will be played July 1-9 in the city of Leon, Guanajuato (Mexico) with the presence of the 10 best teams in the continent – all vying to make their countries proud and bring the championship trophy home.

If you're not familiarized with the event to take place at Domo de la Feria, don't worry! Here's a quick guide with everything you need to know before the start of the tournament this Saturday:

Who's participating?

This edition will feature Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, United States and Cuba in Group A and Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia in Group.

 

How did they qualify?

United States and Canada, as representatives of North America, got automatic berths. Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba and Dominican Republic (in that order) took the top 4 spots at 2022 Centrobasket Championship and will be representing Central America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela (in that order) grabbed the top 4 spots in South America during the 2022 South American Championship.

What's the format?

During the Group Stage, each team will play against every other team in their group. The first 4 teams from each group Will advance to the quarterfinals, while the last-place teams will be eliminated. In the quarterfinals, the teams will be paired in the following format: 1A vs. 4B, 2B vs. 3A, 1B vs. 4A and 2A vs. 3B.

The quarterfinals winners will advance to the semifinals. There, the winners will vie for the gold medal while the losers will fight for bronze.

Who won the last edition?

In 2021 in San Juan (Puerto Rico), the United States took home the championship trophy with a perfect 6-0 mark under coach head Dawn Staley. Forward Rhyne Howard was named as the Most Valuable Player and a year later was picked No.1 at the WNBA Draft by the Atlanta Dream. She then went on to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Who are the favorite teams?

United States
The prohibitive favorite to win the title. Besides being the defending champions, they're also the current world and Olympic monarchs. Team USA will try to become the first team in the history of the competition to win three straight titles.

Canada
They're coming off a 4th place finish at the 2022 World Cup in Australia. Canada won't have some of their stars but will still feature the nucleus of last year's squad while adding some young talent.

Puerto Rico
They advanced to the quarterfinals at the most recent World Cup and earned the silver medal at the last AmeriCup while playing at home. They're one of the teams has grown the most in the last 5 years and will feature their core group of players.

Brazil
The winningest country in the history of Women's AmeriCup with 5 titles. Because of their pedigree, they're always among the favorites. Head coach José Neto has once again built a solid group while adding young players with huge potential.

What's at stake?

The championship trophy is obviously the main objective, along with the silver and bronze medals. However, this is the beginning of the road toward the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The teams finishing in the top 2 spots at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup guarantee their spots in the world FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Those finishing 3-6 guarantee a spot in the FIBA Americas Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament, where 2 more teams will advance to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Where can I watch the games?

The games will be broadcasted on DirecTV Latin America, ESPN Brasil, WAPA Puerto Rico, CDN República Dominicana, NEX Panamá, Rogers Canadá y through the Courtside1891 platform in the United States and across the world.

 

Where can I buy tickets?

To attend the games at Domo de la Feria in Leon, Guanajuato (Mexico), you can purchase tickets here.

Who are the main stars of the tournament?

A great amount of talent will be in display on the court during the next week. Each country will have several of their best players. However, these are the top 5 to follow:

Angel Reese – United States
The forward from Louisiana State just led her team to the Division I NCAA title. She was also named to her conference's All-Defensive team, a member of the First Team and the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA tournament. The 21-year-old also led the nation in points (23.0) and rebounds (15.4) per game.

Nirra Fields - Canada
At the 2022 World Cup in Australia, the 30-year-old point guard had a solid showing, averaging 10.6 points and 3.6 rebounds. She played the last 3 seasons in the Turkish first division, becoming one of the stars of the league. With the Istanbul squad, she averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the 2022-23 season.

Arella Guirantes - Puerto Rico
Although the presence of the WNBA's Seattle Storm's point guard isn’t confirmed yet, she appears among the list of eligible players for Puerto Rico. The 22-year-old paced the boricuas in points (18.2), rebounds (6.5) and assists (3.5) during the 2022 World Cup, while also leading them to the title at 2022 Centrobasket, where she was named Most Valuable Player after averaging 24.0 points, 6.4 boards and 5.4 dimes.

Kamilla Cardoso - Brazil
The 22-year-old center is the heir apparent to veteran Erika de Souza, who's in the last stages of her national team career. At the South American Championship, Cardoso started and averaged 14.8 points and 11.8 rebounds. She just finished her third NCAA season (her second at South Carolina), where in 36 games she averaged 18.8 minutes, 9.8 points, 8.5 boards and 1.9 blocks.

Florencia Chagas - Argentina
The shooting guard is back with the Argentinian national team after four years. In 2021, she was drafted by the Indiana Fever of the WNBA but hasn’t gone over yet. She has played in the first division leagues of Italy, Spain and Finland, and recently looked in great form at the Women's South American League Final 4, where she averaged 20.4 points for Uruguay's Aguada. This is expected to be her first big tournament for Argentina.

Where else can I follow the tournament?

Besides the official site, you can follow us through our social media channels. Find us on Twitter and Instagram as @americupw and on Facebook as FIBA Women's AmeriCup.

Remember to use the hashtag #AmeriCupW in each of those sites to follow the action.

FIBA