USA moves on to Semi-Final with win over Colombia

LEON (Mexico) – The first Quarter-Final of the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup saw USA dominate in the fourth quarter to take the victory 68-49 and keep moving towards a medal on Friday afternoon at Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Rickea Jackson led USA in scoring averaging 13.5 points per game after the group phase and was on top of her game early as was Angel Reese as USA’s whole rotation took turns scoring in the first quarter as the two along with Charisma Osborne, Jewel Spear, Janiah Barker and Laren Betts all tallied at least 3 points.

 

Mabel Martinez led Colombia with 3 points but as the team shot just 20 percent, they were held to 11 points in the quarter despite solid effort on the offensive glass.

In the second quarter Colombia came much closer to USA as Yuliany Paz added 4 points and Martinez added 5 more, but by the half Betts had already tallied 12 points going 4-of-4 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the foul line, add Jackson had tallied 9 points including 7 from the line.

By the third quarter Betts, Jackson and Reese all continued to dominate offensively as Reese and Betts also controlled the boards with Betts tallying yet another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds after three quarters.

Manuela Rios and Jenifer Muñoz added additional scoring support for Colombia, as they trimmed the gap to 12 points going into the final quarter, but the team’s inconsistency shooting compared to USA, who had shot 40 percent from the three-point line through three quarters, kept them behind.

USA also gained back control of the boards especially defensively, grabbing 28 defensive rebounds to Colombia’s 13 offensive rebounds even as Colombia capitalized off USA’s 16 turnovers for 13 points.

The fourth quarter was a defensive clinic by USA as they held Venezuela to just 8 points while Reese continued to show off her two-way play grabbing 4 rebounds and scoring 5 points in just the quarter alone to notch a double-double herself.

Rios and Paz tried to keep up with USA but with their bench contributing just 11 points the whole game, Colombia could not match the roster depth that USA had on both sides of the ball.

 

Betts led all scorers with 16 points and 14 rebounds, Jackson added 15 points and Reese finished with a 13-point, 18-rebound double-double for USA in the win.

Rios was Colombia’s only scorer in double digits with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists while Martinez finished with 8 points.

Check out the semifinals start times here

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