Sofia Payan leads Mexico in second half to pull out win over Dominican Republic

LEON (Mexico) - Mexico came back from a first-half deficit to win against Dominican Republic, led by Sofia Payan’s 15 points, as Mexico pulled out a 69-62 win in their first game of the the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup on Saturday night at Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Dominican Republic got the edge to start the games between two evenly matched teams, holding onto the lead once they took it, and outscored Mexico 19-14 and holding onto a five-point lead after the first quarter thanks to Cesarina Capellan’s efforts.

But Payan led Mexico to a four-point lead at the half, 34-30, with 9 points while Myriam Lara added 5 points and 5 rebounds to put the game back in Mexico’s favor.

Despite shooting just 20 percent from the three-point arc in the first half, Mexico put the pressure on Dominican Republic and held them to 27 percent shooting from field goal range in the half and continued to control the game as Mexico controlled both the offensive and defensive boards.

Mexico’s baskets in transition and size in the paint helped them get the lead back in the second quarter that would go back and forth from a quick Dominican Republic team that could create baskets from steals.

After trailing in the first quarter, Mexico led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter as Claudia Ramos and Aixchel Hernandez helped with the offensive scoring load as Mexico’s full-team effort was on display with 10 players scoring at least 4 points in the win.

Ramos also led on the boards for Mexico, who controlled almost all areas of the game by the second half, but Dominican Republic would not back down as Esmery Martinez dominated on both sides of the ball and kept up with Mexico to the final minutes of the game.

Eight different Dominican Republic players also scored 4 or more points in the game, and with both teams so close in their team’s abilities, the difference came in Mexico’s ability to move the ball, as Paola Beltran notched 8 assists, and forced turnovers from Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic managed to get the lead back early in the fourth quarter, but once Mexico led with just over five minutes to play, they held on until the end for their first win of the competition.

Payan led Mexico with 15 points while Ramos added 10 points and 7 rebounds and Hernandez added 8 points and 5 rebounds in Mexico’s win.

Martinez led all scorers with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists while Capellan added 14 points and 5 rebounds for Dominican Republic in the loss.

FIBA