Dominant victories highlight first day of South American Women’s Championship

BARQUISIMETO (South American Women’s Championship) – Defending South American Champions, Brazil and Colombia got off to a good start after capturing telling and impressive victories in the first day of the contest that runs until May 26^th , in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

The first game of the 2016 South American Championship featured a dominant debut from Colombia, defeating Chile by the score of and 79-38. From early on Chile couldn’t match-up to Colombia’s height, and Colombia’s versatility on offense allowed the team to get an early 18 – 4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Chile looked dazed and anxious on the court, against a team that found every possible way to find open shots on the offensive side of the court. Colombia didn’t look back, and won their first game of the competition in impressive fashion.  

Mabel Martinez led Colombia with 16 points, followed closely by Palacio and Munoz with 13 points each. For Chile, the leading scorer was Angela Angotzi with 5 points in a losing effort.

Brazil started its South American title defense with an impressive and telling victory over Uruguay, 115 – 42. From the get go Brazil’s height and precise outside scoring was too much, and because of that the scoreboard began to open. The squad led by Alejandro Alvarez looked good on offense, showing ball movement and long range shooting, during the second quarter. However, the Brazilian responded and kept adding to the already established lead.

The best scorer of the match was Brazilian center Nadia Colhado with 21 points.

Tomorrow on the second day of the Championship, Colombia will have the day off, while Chile will look to rebound in a match up against defending champs, Brazil, in the other match-up from Group A, Uruguay will face Paraguay. Meanwhile, Group B will kick off when Argentina faces Ecuador. The host of the championship will debut against Peru, to close the second day of competition.

FIBA