Canada wins the tournament after beating Puerto Rico; Colombia finishes third

MEDELLIN (Colombia) – Canada defeated Puerto Rico on Sunday to sweep their slate and win the Americas FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament at Coliseo Iván de Bedout.

In a game between the two teams that earned their berths to next year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, the North Americans prevailed and finished with a 3-0 record.

And later in the day, host country Colombia beat Venezuela to finish in 3rd place.

Here’s a look at the action from Matchday 3:

Canada 77 – 68 Puerto Rico

Canada took advantage of their massive size advantage against Puerto Rico en route to a 77-68 victory on Sunday to finish atop the tournament’s leaderboard.

The North Americans doubled up the boricuas, 56-27, on the boards and led wire-to-wire to sweep their slate in Medellin, Colombia.

 

Canada shot 44.1 percent from the field and had four different players scoring in double figures, led by center Natalie Achonwa.

“I’m excited that we came here,” Achonwa said. “We did what we wanted to do. We won 3 games (and) we qualified for the Olympic Qualifier. Thar was our main goal. Now we get to take some things we learned in this tournament and apply them for the next round.”

Achonwa had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block. Forward Laeticia Amihere added an 11-point, 15-rebound double-double for Victor Lapeña’s squad.

Cassandre Prosper and Shay Colley also contributed 11 points apiece.

Canada was able to keep Puerto Rico at bay through good defense, holding their opponent to 33.9 percent from the field and limiting them to just 5 offensive rebounds.

This allowed them to overcome a game where they had 22 turnovers.

Puerto Rico was led once again by Arella Guirantes, who had a game-high 22 points on 6/18 from the field and 7/8 at the charity stripe. She added 6 rebounds, 5 steals, a pair of assists and a block.

Pamela Rosado (12), Tayra Melendez (11) and Ahlana Smith (10) also scored in double digits for a team that also achieved their goal of qualifying for the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They’ll now head to China in February, where they’ll face France, China and New Zealand.

 

As for Canada, they’ll travel to Hungary where they’ll play the host country, Spain, and Japan.

Achonwa knows exactly the weight of what qualifying to Paris 2024 would signify.

“It would mean everything,” she said. “It’s the biggest global, multisport event and for us to be able to make it consecutive, it would be my fourth consecutive Olympics, it would be huge.”

Colombia 77 – 72 Venezuela

Colombia fended off a valiant late effort from Venezuela Sunday night to win 77-72 and finish in third place.

The home crowd got something to celebrate at last, as Colombia avoided being swept after losing to Canada and Puerto Rico in the tournament’s first two games.

Jenifer Muñoz led a blistering outside attack with 19 points on 5/7 from beyond the arc as her team shot 10/25 (40 percent) from long distance.

“We wanted to finish strong at home,” she said.

 

Esperanza Delgado (17 points on 5/11 from downtown) and Meredith Venner (12 points and 4 rebounds) joined Muñoz in scoring in double digits.

Venezuela trailed by as many as 20 points deep into the second half, but never let go of the rope.

Daniella Wallen (game-high 32 points on 12/25 from the field) and Aguehil Fajardo (19 points and 12 rebounds) led the charge that allowed their team to cut the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, but their efforts came too little too late.

Venezuela outdueled Colombia both on the boards (49-43) and in the paint (42-28), but the home team successfully managed the lead they had built.

 

Unfortunately for Colombia, their third-place finish won’t get them a spot in next year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, as Canada and Puerto Rico finished above them. This left Muñoz with a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

“It’s a happiness with a little bit of nostalgia,” she said. “This is a team (built) for big things, and it gives me a little bit of sadness to not be able to qualify.”

FIBA