Cuba get win after back-and-forth action against Argentina

LEON (Mexico) – Gameday 4 started out with an evenly matched battle as Cuba and Argentina went basket for basket until the final buzzer as Cuba grabbed the win 66-63 at the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup at Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

 

Each team’s leaders on the scoreboard came out to play early as Andrea Boquete and Yamara Amargo both found the net early on tipping in 7 points each in the first quarter, but Cuba got the 6-point edge as Nahomis Vargas added 4 points.

Cuba’s tough defense forced Argentina to make turnovers early but in the second quarter Brenda Fontana’s two-way play complimented Boquete’s as she scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and suddenly Argentina only trailed by two at the half.

Despite Amargo continuing to be Cuba’s most reliable scorer and Vargas commanding the glass, the rest of Cuba’s rotation could not keep up with the fast pace of the quick Argentinians that grabbed 4 steals in the half and forced Cuba to foul after being unable to guard them in the paint.

Out of the half the two teams continued to battle back and forth in a physical third quarter the two teams were tied at 44-all with under a minute to play as they took turns at the foul line, though Cuba would get the edge by a single point to end the quarter 46-45.

Florencia Chagas picked up on offense but Boquete and Fontana were Argentina’s leaders while Cuba relied heavily on Amargo as she tallied 21 points but no other player for Cuba had more than 6 points through three quarters.

Chagas continued to pull for Argentina in the final quarter but Cuba’s bench put in 10 minutes of work that their opponent could not keep up with as Suanly Tanis added 12 points to Amargo’s 25 while Argentina’s bench as a whole mustered just 9 points.

Maria Montero’s two foul shots at the end of the game gave Cuba the three-point gap to hold onto until the end and as Melisa Gretter could not hit the buzzer beater 3-point shot Cuba took the win.

 

Amargo led all scorers with 25 points and 5 rebounds while Tanis added 12 points and Vargas added 5 points and 10 rebounds for Cuba in the win.

Boquete led Argentina with 21 points shooting 80 percent from the floor and 7 rebounds, Chagas added 13 points and Gretter tallied 5 points and 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

FIBA