Puerto Rico stops Alves Da Silva's big day, Argentina bounce back on Day 2

GUANAJUATO (Mexico) - The second day of group play action at the Fair Dome in Leon showcased more young talent who are eager to secure their spot for 2022 and put the world on notice of the skill coming out of the Americas Zone. Here are three takeaways from day two of the FIBA U16 Americas Women’s Championship.

Argentina bounce back

After narrowly losing to host nation Mexico, Argentina wanted to prove that they are still very much a contender in this tournament, and their match against Chile showed exactly that. Angelina Giacone once again took the reins on the scoring load with 11 points, along with Gianella Espedale and Alma Maria Bourgarel who netted 12 each.

Guarding the glass, Argentina also dominated the boards on both ends of the court and managed to tally 12 second chance points. The biggest difference was how well rounded the Argentinian team was, scoring 28 points off the bench while Chile managed to get only 4.

Vania Vega and Betsabe Pizarro both contributed 15 points each to keep Chile in the game, but their 30 points made up over half of their team’s total 53 with only three other players scoring 6 or more points.

Prosper, Watkins stay sharp shooters

The next generation of stars are ready to make their impact, and some players have already shown their dominance through the first two days of play. The USA and Canada are two of the top teams in the world at the senior level – in the top four of the FIBA World Rankings – and already have the next generational talents in Cassandre Prosper and Juju Watkins.

Through two games Prosper already tallied 48 points, having a nearly identical stat line from the first day as she once again netted 24 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, this time against Costa Rica. Prosper also worked on her defensive stealth, recording five steals in the game, as well as six of her rebounds coming from the defensive glass.

For Watkins, who scored 21 point and recorded a whopping 10 steals against Chile, had another stellar showing against the home team of Mexico, scoring 12 points in just seven minutes in the first half, and finishing with 21 points in 16 minutes bringing her tournament total to 42, trailing only Prosper.

Puerto Rico’s team effort stops Da Silva’s monster day

Showing off once again that they are one of the most well-rounded teams in the tournament, Puerto Rico had four different scorers with 11 or more points to fight for a slim 74-67 victory over Brazil. Franchesca Torres Rodriguez led all scorers for Puerto Rico with 17 points as well as led the team in assists with five, using her court vision to set her teammates up for success in the win.

Brazil’s Ana Passos Alves Da Silva had one of the best performances in the tournament to try and keep her team from galling to 0-2, with a massive 23-point, 22 rebound double-double including 13 offensive boards. Taissa Nascimento Queiroz added another double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds, but it was not enough to stop the deep rotation of Puerto Rico who had a big third quarter, outscoring Brazil 27-17, allowed them to pull away and get the edge over Brazil despite an evenly split fourth.

FIBA