Disappointing Loss for Puerto Rico Women’s Basketball Team at 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games

Editor’s Note: Click here to visit our special site for the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games, where you will find coverage from our journalists in San Salvador.

The women’s national basketball team will play the bronze medal at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games after losing this Tuesday in their semifinal match, 61-60, against the US Virgin Islands team, in a match held at the National Gymnasium Adolfo Pineda.

The Puerto Ricans will face the loser of the Dominican Republic or Cuba, who will play late this Tuesday. The game will be at 7:00 pm, Puerto Rico time.

In a physical match between a young Puerto Rican squad and an experienced and mature rival team, the Puerto Rican players faced problems finding the basket in the second half, after closing the first quarter with an advantage.

When analyzing the result of the game, the national leader Gerardo “Jerry” Batista stipulated that the quintet did not start as it should in defensive terms and pointed out that the players made bad decisions during the match.

In the same way, he had harsh words for arbitration.

“Refereeing at this level is horrible. I don’t want to make excuses, because we were the guilty ones, but I understand that they changed the game. We were up by 11, 37-26, there was a momentum. Beginning the third quarter, there was a play under the basket that Mya was carried and pushed and it ended up being a foul on our part and unsportsmanlike for her. I think that changed the game. Too much time to decide and it gave them a spectacular advantage”, declared Batista.

The coach added that offensively they did not find the rhythm.

“There was no second voice after Jackie, who was offensive. We took a lot of open shots and missed. It was a very bad loss for us”.

Jackie Benítez was the best scorer for the Puerto Ricans with 22 points. She was followed by Mya Hollingshed, with 13. They were the only two to score in double figures.

For Virgin Islands, Natalie Kleemann-Day led the offense with 17 points and J-naya Ephraim and Imani Tate contributed 15 each. Anisha Jones hit 11.

In their previous games, Puerto Rico started with a 72-62 victory against the host team. In their second commitment, they achieved an overwhelming victory against Costa Rica by 76-40 and prevailed against Cuba by 81-64.

The 12 warriors, as they are known, won bronze at the 2018 Barranquilla Central American Games, after losing to host Colombia in the semifinals.

2023-06-28 05:23:58
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