TORONTO, Canada — The Pan American games tipped off here at the RYA-Ryerson Center with a small field of eight teams looking to gather experience for their future stars, especially the USA and host Canada. Make no mistake, the players here are the future of each country’s national women’s team. For some of them, those veteran players are here and Team USA got a battle last night outlasting Brazil 75-69 victory.
The USA PanAm team sports an average of 20.1 with USA Women’s National Team camp invitees 6-4 Breanna Stewart (UConn) and 5-9 Tiffany Mitchell (South Carolina) being only 20 with UConn teammate Moriah Jefferson, Villanova’s Caroline Coyer and Texas Tech’s Courtney B. Williams clocking in at 21. Most USA players older than this are either on WNBA rosters or sitting out this out. Brazil has a roster average of 25.8 with three players in their 30’s.
Brazil was not going to let youth be served at the start leaning on the USA team enough to send NCAA Final Four three-time MVP Breanna Stewart to the floor (down 1) with a shove and ankle twist that sent the same shivers when she hit the floor during the NCAA Championship game with Notre Dame. As with that game, Stewart returned to the game but this time went on a scoring spree moving the USA into a commanding 20-11 lead within a few minutes in the first quarter and a 25-17 lead at the end. Stewart, who scored 14 points in the first half, was shadowed by 10-Gilmara Justino (6-0, 34yrs) and 15-Kelly Santos (6-3, 35yrs) in a very physical game and held a 39-31 halftime lead.
USA Pan Am Coach Lisa Bluder talks about Breanna Stewart going down in first half of game vs, Brazil.
A pesky Brazil keep pecking away with Patricia Teixeira hitting 3s and layups to close the USA lead 46-43 with 4:42 left in third quarter. Until Carina Martin’s three gave Brazil a surprising 48-46 lead with 3:20 left in the third quarter. Moriah Jefferson tied the game at 48 at 2:57 and Stewart shut the door with a block on a breakaway layup less than a minute later and the USA never gave up the lead. Brazil tried to close the gap again early in the 4th quarter but Stewart (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Jefferson (21 points) kept scoring and defending until the final buzzer.
FIRST DAY GAMES NOTES: The schedule for the event is unusual compared to other international FIBA-level events with start times of 10:30, 1:30, 6:00, 9:00 each day with the finals and semifinals spilling over into a Monday instead of a full finish on a Sunday.
The basketball venue for the Pan American Games is a mashup of names with it officially being the RYA Athletic Center, a part of Ryerson University / Mattamy Center and unmistakable shell of the old Maple Leaf Gardens. Unlike the destruction of the Boston Garden, they gutted this edifice and rebuild the interior for a combination ice hockey and off-season basketball. There are other smaller courts, workout areas and plenty of new space within the hallowed wall.
The early game was a Pool A battle with Cuba (Yamara Amargo 17 points) coming away with a 68-55 win over Argentina (Deborah Gonzalez 15pts). The afternoon game saw Puerto Rico take a 76-54 win over a weak Dominican Republic. Iona-grad Damika Martinez had 10 points for PR while Wagner’s Sophia Roma contributed two points. Carmen Guzman who played her HS ball in New York City (Murray Bergtraum / UAB) had 15 points for the DR.
The feature game was a warmly-received 101-38 Canada rout of Venezuela with 10 of 11 players scoring. Seven Canadian players hit double figures with UConn starter Kia Nurse, who is the youngest player on the roster at 19 years, getting 12 points.
While the inside of the old Maple Leaf was nice and bright there was no WiFi access, no quarter or halftime stats and a crew of 26 people sitting at the scoring table in mustard yellow shirts not making this better for the media in attendance.
Next month Canada will host the FIBA Americas Women’s Championships in Edmonton, Alberta without the qualifying USA squad. This event is the bridge to that next step – a quasi FIBA u20/22 event which this zone does not have.
