Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Cuba are through to the semifinal of the FIBA Americas Women's Championship.
Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team concluded preliminary play with a 66-49 victory over Jamaica. With the win, Canada (3-1) will head to the semi-finals to play Argentina. The win also qualifies Canada for a spot in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June.
Offensively, Canada shot 41 percent from the field, led by 13 points from Kim Smith. Miranda Ayim had her best game in the tournament thus far with 11 points; while Kalisha Keane and Krista Phillips continued their solid play with nine and eight points respectively.
The game was won on the defensive end, where Canada held Jamaica to 28 percent shooting and out-rebounded their opponents 50-24. Teresa Gabriele had a team-high seven rebounds; while Chelsea Aubry (Kitchener, ON), Phillips and Ayim recorded six each.
The game got off to a slow start with both teams trying to find their offense in the early going. Gabriele gave Canada their biggest lead at 13-9 with a three-pointer with three minutes remaining. However, Jamaica was solid from the free throw line, which allowed them to stay within two points after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, both teams started to find their offense, led by Keane and Smith, who led Canada to a 7-2 scoring run midway through the quarter to push the lead to eight. Jamaica went on a run of their own, but just as time expired before halftime, Ayim finished off a no-look pass from Shona Thorburn to give Canada a 33-25 lead.
To start the third quarter, Canada pushed their lead to double-digits with back-to-back lay-ups by Gabriele and Phillips. The lead continued to grow halfway through the quarter with an 8-0 scoring run led by Ayim. The run propelled Canada to take a sizeable 50-34 lead heading into the fourth.
Brazil will square off against Cuba in the other semifinal.
Cuba's team defeated Chile 62-40 and ended the preliminary phase in second place in Group A. They will play against Brazil in the semi-final.
The Cuban came out in the attack and took the lead in the first quarter 19-06. The players Marlene Cepeda and Taimy Fernandez stood out scoring 6 points each.
For the second period, the Islanders took advantage of the mistakes of Chile and took over the scoreboard, at this point the score was 36-22.
In the third quarter, the physical wear of the Chilean made it possible for the Cubans to increase their lead. With the entry of Ineidis Casanova, Cuba improved the score to 51-29.
At the end of the game, a Cuban effective offensive game and a Chilean team that committed to many turnovers gave the game to the Caribbean team. The player of the game was the Cuban, Taimy Fernandez, who was key in the 62-40 victory for her team.
