Puerto Rico women gear up for run at the podium

SAN JUAN (Central American and Caribbean Games) - Puerto Rico’s women captured the gold medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez and the Boricuas are determined to show that was no fluke when the tournament is held once again this month.

The event is to be staged in Veracruz, Mexico, and there is plenty of cause to believe the Puerto Ricans will be in the reckoning for honors.

The side has point guard Carla Cortijo and centers Sandra Garcia and Esmary Vargas, three players that should be protagonists in clashes with El Salvador, Costa Rica and hosts Mexico in Group A.

Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and the Dominican Republic will compete in Group B.

Mexico was a happy hunting ground for Puerto Rico in 2011 because they won the Pan American Games title there in 2011.

"The main aim is to look to be in the medals, but obviously we are looking to revalidate the gold medal that we won in 2010," said Hector Laboy, the general director of the women’s national team.

"Our strongest rivals are Cuba and Mexico, who always play well at home. Our goal is to beat Cuba and show that Puerto Rico is number one in Central America and the Caribbean.

Laboy, who is also a vice president of the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation, added: "We have a team with young talent like Dayshalee [Salaman] and Yashira [Delgado], and veterans like Cortijo, Esmary and Cindy [Valentin], who complement each other well.

"Our worry is that they haven’t had much training together and that they may not jell but there is no doubt that we have the talent."

The competition gets underway on 19 November and the Boricuas will square off against the Dominican Republic.

Before traveling to Mexico, however, Puerto Rico will have friendly games against the Dominicans on 14 and 15 November.

The top two sides in each group will advance to the Semi-Finals.

Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic 81-69 in the Final of the 2010 event that was held in Mayaguez.

The following year, they won the Pan American Games and came in fifth at the FIBA Americas Championship in Colombia while in 2013, the Boricuas were fourth at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico.

FIBA