PUR/VEN - Puerto Rico dominates Venezuela and goes for fifth place tomorrow:

CUIABÁ (FIBA Americas Championship for Women) – Puerto Rico dominated Venezuela by the score of 74-53 in the Classification Round of the FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Cuiabá, Brazil.

The Puerto Ricans will play the winner of the Dominican Republic-Chile game tomorrow for fifth place overall. Meanwhile Venezuela will wait for the loser of that game.

In the first quarter both teams played an efficient game on offense but the Puerto Ricans started to lose their effectiveness from long distance and Venezuela took advantage, finishing the first ten minutes with a 10-0 run to be up 20-11. Cleider Blanco scored 7 points and Ofelia Villarroel 5 for Venezuela. Marie Placido had 5 points and Millie Martinez 4 for the Puerto Ricans.

Puerto Rico took advantage of the Venezuelans mistakes on offense and made a 14-0 run to be up 31-27 after a three point play by center Esmary Vargas. The first half ended 36-32 as Millie Martinez led with 14 points. The Puerto Ricans made 10 points off turnovers and a total of 16 in fastbreak opportunities.

The game was defined in the third quarter as Puerto Rico ended with a 13-0 run in the final two minutes which included two three pointers by Cynthia Valentin to finish up 59-45. Martinez led Puerto Rico with 22 points and Valentin 15, including three long range baskets.

The rally by the Puerto Ricans was 17-0 to be up 63-45 and the reserves finished the game for both teams. Puerto Rico won their second straight game in the tournament.

Millie Martinez ended with 24 points and Cynthia Valentin 17 for the winners. In a losing effort Cleider Blanco had 11 points while Ofelia Villarroel finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Luis Modestti
FIBA Americas