USA Wins Gold Medal at FIBA Americup U16
USA Wins Gold Medal at FIBA Americup U16
On Sunday, June 22, 2025 the Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA Championship in franchise history. The night was more important for a group of 12 teenage girls from the USA that took down a very tough team from Canada to claim the Gold medal of the FIBA Americup in Irapuato, Mexico. This Gold Medal was the first for 11 of the 12 girls on the team and culminated a week of tremendous records and outstanding individual performances by this team. I will take a look at pool play and also give a detailed recap of the bracket play leading up to the Gold Medal game.
The Event
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) hosts the Americup U16 tournament for teams in North America, Central America & South America. The countries compete for an opportunity to qualify for the FIBA U17 Women's World Cup the following summer. The 8 teams that were in this event were set up in two pools.
Pool A - USA - Argentina - Puerto Rico - Venezuela
Pool B - Canada - Columbia - Panama - Mexico
Pool play will run from June 16-18, all the teams will get a day off before bracket play starts with the quarter-finals on June 20 - Semi-finals June 21 - Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Games June 22. All teams will play everyday throughout the event.
Team USA entered this event with a 42 - 1 record in Americup U16 competitions winning 7 Gold Medals.
All games will be played at the Inforum in Irapuato, Mexico
POOL PLAY
Venezuela vs USA - June 16, 2025 - 5:00 PM (EST)
Greidysmar Camacaro gets the scoring started for Venezuela with a layup with 9:16 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Team USA only returning veteran Ivanna Wilson Manyacka got them on the board and eventually ran off 6 points in a row to give her team the lead. Tatianna Griffin knocked down a jump shot with 4:37 remaining in the first period to extend the run to 15 - 0 after being down 2 - 0 to start the game. The end of the 1st qtr saw team USA with a 29 - 12 lead. Team USA was off and running after that, Micah Ojo went coast to coast to close out the 1st half with a layup at the buzzer to make the score 50 - 29.
The 3rd qtr started with Micah Ojo continuing her strong scoring from the 1st half, Ojo would score 8 of the teams 12 points in the first 4 minutes to increase the lead to 62 - 37. Team USA would score 33 points in that period to increase the margin to 40 points at 83 - 43. Team USA used balanced scoring from 8 different players and outstanding defense to finish with a 30 - 9 4th qtr scoring margin to close out Venezuela with a final score of 113 - 52.
FINAL SCORE
USA (1 - 0) - 113
Venezuela (0 - 1) - 52
Top Players
Micah Ojo - 18 Pts - 4 Reb - 4 Stl
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 18 Pts – 7 Reb - 1 Blk
Tatianna Griffin - 14 Pts - 6 Reb - 5 Stl
Morgan Reckley - 6 Pts - 7 Asst - 2 Stl
USA vs Puerto Rico - June 17, 2025 - 5:00 PM (EST)
Team USA got off to a hot start versus Puerto Rico in what would be a historic day for the record books. Ivanna Wilson Manyacka got the scoring started with four quick points in the first 40 seconds of the game. Wilson Manyacka would go on to score 7 of the teams 10 points as they led 10 - 2 with 8:09 left on the clock in the 1st period. The pressure defense was affecting Puerto Rico and the depth of Team USA took over the game. The 1st period ended with a score of 46 - 9 with the USA leading, 10 players on the roster entered the score sheet. Team USA pulled off the full court press early in the 2nd period but it did not slow them down.
Team USA overwhelmed Puerto Rico and went on to have 8 different players score in double figures in a victory that would set an Americup record. The 138 points that USA scored is the most in a U16 competition. The defense was a catalyst for the big scoring day as they forced 48 turnovers including 34 steals that lead to 72 points off turnovers and 66 fast break points.
Final Score
Team USA (2 - 0) - 138
Puerto Rico (0 - 2) - 38
Top Players
Reece Gilpatrick - 20 pts - 7 Reb - 3 Blk
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 18 Pts - 4 Reb - 10 Stl
Tatianna Griffin - 18 Pts - 6 Reb - 5 Asst
Carolina Bradley - 9 Pts - 11 Reb - 2 Asst
USA vs Argentina - June 18, 2025 - 5:00 PM (EST)
Argentina came into the game looking to pull off an upset and take pool A as both teams came in with a 2 - 0 record. The 1st saw Argentina take a 2 - 1 lead with 9:03 seconds left, the game was also tied at three points a piece at the 8:04 mark. Team USA then went on a 22 - 0 run to take over the game and a 25 - 3 lead following an Olivia Jones layup with 2:02 remaining. The score ballooned to a 48 - 17 lead for Team USA at Halftime.
Team USA kept their focus on playing a complete game and finished strong with a 101 - 46 victory over Argentina to finish 3 - 0 in Pool A and receive the top seed in the knockout phase. The USA team will face Panama in the semi-finals as they finished 0 - 3 in Pool B
Final Score
Team USA (3 - 0) - 101
Argentina ( 2 - 1) - 46
Top Players
Eve Long - 17 Pts - 5 Reb - 1 Stl
Micah Ojo - 15 Pts - 5 Stl - Asst
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 11 Pts - 9 Reb - 2 Stl
Carolina Bradley - 10 Pts - 10 Reb - 2 Blk
Nation Williams - 8 Pts - 13 Reb - 2 Blk
Olivia Jones - 8 Pts - 5 Reb - 6 Asst
Bracket Play
Quarter - Finals
USA vs Panama - June 20, 2025 - 2:30 PM (EST)
Team USA started this run to a gold medal with a focus that is awesome to see, the team started the 1st period on a 44 - 0 run against an outmatched Panama team. The end of the 1st period saw the score at 48 - 2 and it ballooned to 76 - 8 at halftime. Ivanna Wilson Manyacka led all scorers with 18 points at the half, followed by Jordyn Haywood with 9 points.
The 2nd half of the game proved to be as lopsided as the 1st half with Team USA pulling back to a halfcourt defense, that was very effective. Panama scored 4 points in the 3rd period but was unable to scratch the scoreboard in the 4th period. The final score of the game ended up at 131 - 12 and the USA team set multiple U16 records with the 119 point margin of victory, most points in a qtr (48), most assists (39) in a game by a team and most field goals made (55).
Final Score
Team USA (4 - 0) - 131
Panama (0 - 4) - 12
Top Players
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 26 Pts - 5 Reb - 4 Stl
Jordyn Haywood - 20 Pts - 6 Stl - 6 Asst
Tatianna Griffin - 14 Pts - 4 Stl - 4 Asst
Nation Williams - 9 Pts - 9 Reb - 3 Stl
Olivia Jones - 7 Pts - 7 Asst - 2 Blk
Semi - Finals
USA vs Mexico - June 21, 2025 - 10:00 PM (EST)
Watching this semi - final game on Youtube I noticed the enormous crowd for the host team from Mexico in the stands. The crowd along with their 3 - 1 record makes them dangerous. When the game started I can see that the Mexico team was feeding off the crowd and emotion of this tremendous opportunity. The scoring started with Mexico getting on the board with a 3 - 0 lead by 9:00 minute mark in the 1st period. The lead grew to 5 points at 7 - 2 when Belen Velazquez found Aislin Tamez for a layup with 7:53 remaining. The USA team utilized the Micah Ojo and Ivanna Wilson Manyacka combination to combine for 12 points as they went on a run to take a 15 - 11 lead with 3:48 left in the 1st period. The USA team would continue to score at a high clip to finish the period with another 12 points in the final 3 minutes. The USA team seemed to take control after finishing the 1st period with a 27 - 17 lead. They stretched it out to 57 - 23 at halftime by holding Mexico to 6 total points in the 2nd period.
Team USA continued to shoot at a high rate during the 2nd half of this game versus Mexico. They continued to play outstanding defense. Mexico scored a total of 27 in the 2nd half while USA scored 55 points. All 12 of the players from team USA scored and contributed along the stat sheet. The commitment to each other's success is impressive.
Final
Team USA (5 - 0) - 112
Mexico (3 - 2) - 50
Top Players
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 21 Pts - 7 Reb - 5 Asst
Tatianna Griffin - 15 Pts - 2 Reb - 1 Asst
Micah Ojo - 12 Pts - 5 Reb - 2 Stl
Arianna Robinson - 12 Pts - 2 Reb - 2 Stl
Olivia Jones - 10 Pts - 3 Reb - 5 Stl
Eve Long - 10 Pts - 3 Reb - 2 Stl
Nation Williams - 8 Pts - 7 Reb - 3 Blk
Jazman Bailey - 3 Pts - 1 Reb - 6 Asst
Gold Medal Game
USA vs Canada - June 22, 2025 - 10:00 PM (EST)
This year's FIBA Americup marks 10 years since the USA suffered its only loss at this event. I also marked the only time that Canada has won the Gold Medal. Team USA came out with the mindset that history will not repeat itself on June 22. Ivanna Wilson Manyacka and Micah Ojo continued their hot scoring by getting the team off to a 7 - 0 lead with 8:42 remaining in the 1st qtr. Canada would score six of the next eight points in the game to cut their deficit to 9 - 6 on the scoreboard, Guard - Avery Arije scored four of the points and forward - Emeral Nnani added two. Team USA seemed to tighten up the defense and went on a run once Canada got some early confidence. By the time Morghan Reckley knocked down a jumpshot with 3:14 remaining they were leading 22 - 9. Micah Ojo finished off the first quarter scoring with a layup to extend the lead to 13 points with a 30 - 17 score. Team USA knew that defense was going to win this gold medal. Canada came into the gold medal game averaging 79.6 points per game and Team USA would need to keep them away from having that type of output. Both teams started the second quarter playing extremely hard and executed well on both sides of the court. Team USA was able to score more consistently. With 3:12 remaining in the period Tatianna Griffin knocked down a pull up jumper to make the score 45 - 23 - team USA was on a 15 - 6 run. Team Canada kept working and scored 7 points in the final 2 minutes of the 1st half but Jordan Haywood hit a jumpshot with nine seconds remaining to make the halftime score 51 - 29 with Team USA leading.
Canada came out in the 3rd period and started to chip away at the score, they went on a 7 - 2 run to cut the deficit to 53 - 36 with 6:29 remaining. Grace Gonpang scored four of the seven points to start the period and put themselves in a good position. Team USA was able to turn things around in the final five minutes of the period and outscored Canada 9 - 6 to finish the period with each team scoring 13 points a piece. The 3rd period finished with a score of 64 - 42 with Team USA leading and having their sights on the gold medal. Jazman Bailey started the 4th period with a 3-Ptr and started a 10 - 5 run that extended the lead to 74 - 47 with 7:32 remaining in the game. Team USA exchanged baskets with Canada throughout the rest of the game, but was never threatened. They closed out the game 85 - 59 to secure their 8th Americup 16U Gold Medal.
Final Score
Team USA (6 - 0) - 85
Canada (5 - 1) - 59
Top Players
Micah Ojo - 18 Pts - 5 Asst - 4 Stl
Ivanna Wilson Manyacka - 14 Pts - 11 Reb - 4 Blk
Eve Long - 12 Pts - 4 Reb - 3 Blk
Tatianna Griffin - 11 Pts - 3 Reb - 2 Asst
Morghan Reckley - 9 Pts - 4 Asst - 4 Stl
Canada
Avery Arije - 13 Pts - 4 Reb - 1 Stl