BUCARAMANGA (Colombia) – Brazil, Argentina, United States and Canada dominated their Quarterfinals matchups at the FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup, currently taking place in Bucaramanga, Colombia, advanced to the Semifinals and punched their tickets to the 2025 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup. On Saturday’s Semifinals slate, United States will face Argentina, while Canada will match up against Brazil (check the schedule here). The winners will play for the title on Sunday, while the losers will vie for 3rd place. The teams that failed to make the Semifinals will play a consolation bracket to determine the 5th to 8th spots. This is how the Quarterfinals unfolded: CAN 66 – 58 MEX Taliyah Henderson scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and Jasmine Bascoe added 16 and 8 boards to guide Canada to victory against Mexico in a close game where the outcome was only decided in the final minutes. The North Americans, who cruised through the Group Stage with a perfect record and several blowouts, had to dig deeper against a Mexican squad that showed no fear and was even ahead 41-40 midway through the third quarter.
Mexico played great defense and held Canada to just 30 percent from the field (21/70) while also shooting 44 percent themselves (22/54), but Canada’s dominance on the offensive glass (27-7) allowed them to generate 15 second-chance points and control the action throughout most of the game. A Bascoe three-pointer to make it 64-55 with 2:26 to go was the dagger for Canada, who qualified to the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup for the ninth consecutive time.
Mariana Medivil led Mexico with 14 points. Ana Zesati shined with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, while Johanna Flores added 10 points. USA 125 – 27 DOM United States confirmed their status as prohibitive favorites to win a 12th consecutive crown by reaching their highest scoring production of the tournament (125 points) in their blowout win over Dominican Republic.
For the third straight game, all 12 of their players scored (in their debut 11 did) and this time Leah Macy, the one who failed to do it on Monday, led the offense with 14 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Joyce Edwards, who also dropped 14. A total of 8 American players scored in double digits. Arianna Roberson had 13. Kennedy Smith and Kayleigh Heckel produced 12 apiece. Jasmine Davidson and Sarah Strong (10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks) had 13 each, while Jordan Lee added 10.
Ana Mota and Arianna Mercado scored 7 and 5 points, respectively, for Dominican Republic. ARG 69 – 58 PUR Behind an explosive second quarter (28-11), Argentina got past Puerto Rico to qualify to the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup for the third consecutive time (and fifth in the last 6).
That run allowed the South Americans to get a 40-17 lead and play cool and collected basketball the rest of the way despite Puerto Rico controlling different aspects of the game like steals (16-6) and offensive rebounds (20-12). The boricuas caught fire in the final period and won it 23-11 but were never able to get the deficit to single digits. Alma Bourgarel (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block) was Argentina’s sparkplug. Isabella Ingénito shined with 12 points (via 4 three-pointers) and 8 rebounds. Malena Maggi added 11 points, while Nerea Lagowski collected a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Puerto Rico was led by point guard Adriana Robles, who had 15 points and 4 steals. Diann Jackson added 11 points and 11 rebounds. BRA 73 – 55 COL Ayla McDowell (16 points and 8 rebounds) led Brazil’s victory over host country Colombia in the final game of Friday’s slate, but Sther Ubaka was their X-factor with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double in just 15 minutes of action.
With the win, Brazil grabbed the final ticket to next year’s FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup, where they’ll play for the second consecutive time after missing out in 2018. Brazil lost the first quarter 21-19 but recovered with a 24-8 second period to head into halftime up 43-29. They then maintained the double-digit lead the rest of the game. Brazil’s defense was key as their physicality allowed them to win the rebounding battle (55-38) and hold Colombia under 25 percent from the field (15/61) – including a ghastly 1/20 from long distance.
Marta Moscarella had another great performance for Colombia with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Meredith Venner and María Pérez added 11 points each. Daily statistical leaders: Minutes: Alma Bourgarel (ARG) - 39:18 Points: Marta Moscarella (COL) - 19 Three-pointers: Isabella Ingenito (ARG) - 4 Two-pointers: Joyce Edwards (USA) - 7 Free throws: Marta Moscarella (COL) - 11 Rebounds: Diann Jackson (PUR), Marta Moscarella (COL) - 11 Assists: Multiple players - 5 Steals: Jasmine Bascoe (CAN) - 8 Blocks: Sienna Betts (USA) - 3 Efficiency: Sarah Strong (USA) - 26 FIBA