BUCARAMANGA (Colombia) – Malena Maggi and Isabella Ingénito scored 16 points each to guide Argentina in their 73-66 victory over Brazil to finish in 3rd place at the FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup, which ended on Sunday at Coliseo Bicentenario Alejandro Galvis Ramírez in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Argentina won their 7th bronze medal in the history of the tournament and 3rd in a row. Maggi drained a three-pointer to put her team up 70-62 with 58 seconds to go to seal the deal. The forward also had 5 points, 2 assists and a pair of steals. Meanwhile, Ingénito made 4 three-pointers off the bench and added 3 rebounds and 3 dimes. Fellow reserves Sol Depetris (2/2 from downtown) and Stephanie Smidt contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Argentina’s bench scored their counterparts 43-4. Overall, they were more effective on defense (13 steals and 5 blocks) and won points off turnovers 19-14. Alexia Araujo (18 points and 10 rebounds), Ayla McDowell (14 and 10) and Manuella Alves (12 and 12) all had double-doubles for Brazil. Point guard Micaela Cavalcanti added 14 points on 4 three-pointers.
Puerto Rico takes 5th place Puerto Rico held Colombia to just 13 points in the first half and then kept them at bay with good defense to win 57-46 and finish in 5th place. Dianne Crespo led the boricuas with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Her teammate Diann Jackson shined on both ends of the floor and finished with 10 points, 16 rebounds and 4 steals, while Adriana Robles added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Marta Moscarella picked up her fourth double-double of the tournament, this time finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds, 6 steals and a block. Lissa Forero followed with 14 points, including 4 three-pointers. Mexico finished in 7th place thanks to a productive game from their interior duo of Valeria Mora and Ana Zesati. Mora scored 18 points with 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a pair of blicks, while Zesati added a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double with 5 assists, 4 steals and a block to guide their country to an 81-55 victory over Dominican Republic.
Carmela Núñez (17 points on 5 three-pointers) made a great impression for the Dominicans. Natalia Valdez and Portia Polo added 13 points each. FIBA