USA defend title, take home third straight FIBA U16 Americas Women's Championship gold
GUANAJUATO (Mexico) - Going into the gold medal game, USA hadn’t let any of their opponents go down easy, and they didn't go easy on Canada, their North American rival, as they defeated them 118-45 in the
GUANAJUATO (Mexico) - Going into the gold medal game, USA hadn’t let any of their opponents go down easy, and they didn't go easy on Canada, their North American rival, as they defeated them 118-45 in the Final of the FIBA U16 Americas Women’s Championship.
Coming out of the gate, USA held Canada to just 13 points in the first quarter, the most Canada would score in a quarter all game, while USA netted 25 points. USA increased their lead to 31 points at halftime, leading 56-25.
USA held Canada’s top player, Cassandre Prosper, to just 8 points in the first half, and kept Delaney Gibb to 0, while Juju Watkins managed to score 17 points in just 10 minutes of play in the first half, with Jaloni Cambridge adding 9.
By the third quarter, every player on the USA team had managed to score with Watkins moving to 21 points and Cambridge to 14, while Jada Williams also joined the club of double figures with 10 points as USA led Canada 87-35 by the end of the third.
Jada Bediako and Marina Radocaj both picked up slack for Canada, adding 7 points for Bediako and 8 for Radocaj, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap of USA’s well-rounded team that was constantly forcing turnovers and playing hard defense on the Canadian squad.
In the end, USA scored 31 points in each of the second, third and fourth quarters to win the game 118-45, beating out their opponent by 73 points. Every single player on USA scored at least two baskets in the win.
Watkins finished the game with 28 points and 5 steals in just 18 minutes, while Cambridge finished with 18 and 5 steals as well. Jadyn Donovan led team USA with 9 rebounds while Madison Booker added 8.
Prosper led Canada in scoring, finishing the game with 13 points and 5 rebounds, and Radocaj broke the double figure mark with 10, but Canada lacked bodies on the boards, as Gibb led the team with 8 rebounds.
Turnovers and the fast break are where USA found their rhythm, scoring 50 points off of turnovers as well as 35 points on the fast break. In contrast, Canada scored just 3 points from turnover and 2 points from the fast break.
USA has now won the last three U16 Americas Championships, defending their gold medal title from Puerto Aysen, Chile successfully. Canada also finished second in the 2019 edition of the competition.
FIBA