USA Kicks off FIBA Women’s Americup with victory over Chile.
The USA Women’s Americup team headed into the 2025 event in Chile, with a lot of eyes on them. They are looking to get back on the gold medal stand. USA has won four gold medals in Americup competition including 2019 and 2021. Coming off a loss in the gold medal game to Brazil in 2023, I feel that this team has something to prove. Team USA head coach Kara Lawson has a lot of experience with FIBA competition. I believe that she is a great leader for this talented group of NCAA stars.
Venue - Centro de Deportes Colectivos - Santiago, Chile
Group A - Canada, Brazil, Argentina, El Salvador, Dominican Republic
Group B - USA, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Chile, Mexico
Chile got off to a hot start with a 2 - 0 lead and kept scoring until USA - Forward - Grace Van Slooten made a layup to make the score 5 - 4. USA took their first lead with 6:53 left in the first quarter and Chile came right back. Hannah Hidalgo scored with 4:12 remaining to regain the lead at 9 - 8. Chile went on a 6 to 2 run with Antonia Andour hitting a 3Ptr and increasing their lead to 14 - 11. Team USA was able to make some adjustments and made an 8 - 0 run to finish the first quarter. Guard - Gianna Kneepkens hit a 3-Ptr with six seconds left on the clock to make the score 19 - 14 with Team USA holding the lead. The second period started and USA kept scoring at a high pace. They scored the first 13 points to increase their lead to 32 - 14 with 5:58 remaining. Joyce Edwards led the charge with six points in that 13 - 0 run to start the second stanza. Chile and USA would exchange baskets over the next few minutes until Valentina Ojeda made a layup with 1:31 remaining to make the score 38 - 23. Team USA would go on another 8 - 0 run to close out the first half with a score of 46 - 23. Raegan Beers scored back to back layups to finish the scoring, including an offensive rebound putback at the halftime buzzer for Team USA.
Chile started the third quarter determined to cut into the lead by team USA, Catalina Perez scored the first two points with 9:28 remaining. Team USA sensed the home crowd getting behind them and used a 14 - 8 run led by Joyce Edwards (10 points) and Kennedy Smith (4 points). By the 5:20 mark of the third quarter Team USA extended the lead to 29 points at 60 - 31. Joyce Edwards got a break and Raegan Beers came onto the court and kept the scoring going. Beers scored four quick points and started a run that would increase the lead at the end of the third quarter to 34 points. The score would be Chile 45 and Team USA 79 to start the fourth quarter of play. Team USA was able to lock in on defense in the fourth quarter and hold Chile to only two points. The offense for team USA was going very well as they scored 29 points and six different players scored in this time. It took until the middle of the second quarter for Team USA to get their flow, but cruised to a 108 - 47 victory over Chile. Team USA begins the 2025 Women's Americup 1 - 0 in Group B play. Next game is Sunday June 29 vs Columbia (8:10 PM EST).
Top Players
Raegan Beers - 22/Pts - 7/Reb - 3/Stl - 1/Asst - 1/Blk
Joyce Edwards - 19/Pts - 6/Reb - 1/Asst - 1/Stl
Mikayla Blakes - 15/Pts - 2/Reb - 2/Asst - 1/Stl
Hannah Hidalgo - 14/Pts - 3/Reb - 4/Asst - 3/Stl
Gianna Kneepkens - 12/Pts - 4/Reb - 2/Asst - 2/Stl
Olivia Miles - 6/Pts - 4/Reb - 7/Asst - 2/Stl