Argentina win U18 Women's Americas Championship Bronze

BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) - The FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship bronze medal game was a high-pressure match as Argentina topped Brazil 54-50 in a back and forth battle that went to the final buzzer and more with two overtime periods.

Both teams shared the lead multiple times in the first quarter of action, both playing physical defensively and causing shots to miss as each team ended the quarter with just 10 points.

The second quarter would mirror the action but this time Brazil got the edge thanks to a 9-point first half from Arianny De Oliveira as she pushed her team to lead by a slim 3 points at the half break.

Argentina had a much more well-rounded effort in their scoring as many role players contributed offensively but Julia Fernandez was once again the hero for the home team with 7 points in the half to keep Argentina close.

 

Both teams shot under 26 percent in the half as they continued to stifle each other and force unbalanced, awkward shots, but Brazil’s ability to score in the paint without needing to shoot from midrange made the difference as they allowed too many turnovers that helped Argentina crawl back from behind.

Though Brazil had the edge to go into the second half, Argentina found their scoring momentum and gained a slim one-point lead to hang onto in the final 10 minutes of play, one they would manage to build off of in hopes to earn some hardware in front of their home crowd.

Sticking to their routine defense while using the scoring flow from the third quarter, Argentina was first to strike in the fourth quarter, but every time Argentina would finally find a basket, Brazil would do the same, and the game was within one point as Argentina had a slim 33-32 lead with just 2:30 to play left in the game.

As each team had only scored 5 points through almost 8 minutes of play in the match, a second wind from Brazil thanks to relentless play at the rim from Taissa Nascimento Queiroz was enough to give them the lead, but Alma Bourgarel and Nicole Tapari but Argentina right back level with 30 seconds to play.

As a hook shot from Lara Tribouley didn’t fall at the buzzer, the teams remained tied and an overtime battle would continue as each team was determined to make it to the podium.

What Tribouley missed in regulation, she made up for in overtime as a three-point shot she made with just under two minutes to play gave Argentina the lead of one point, but a foul from Bourgarel with 10 seconds to play allowed Brazil to get back one point to send the game to a second overtime.

In a final five minutes that continued to share a back and forth as Brazil and Argentina had pushed from each other all game, a basket from Fernandez and Violeta Maggi’s two clutch shots from the foul line secured Argentina a bronze medal on home soil.

Tribouley led Argentina with 13 points while De Oliveira led Brazil with 14 points in the match, also tallying 9 rebounds in the loss.

Fernandez notched a double-double in the win with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Ana Passos Alves Da Silva led Brazil with a monster 15 boards including 10 defensively.

FIBA