USA Punch Ticket to FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup Final

23 June 2024

USA 109, Argentina 32

View the USA-Argentina box score here.

The United States earned a berth to the 2024 FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup gold medal game with a 109-32 victory over Argentina at Coliseo Bicentenario in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

The United States will face the winner of the Brazil-Canada semifinal on Sunday at 9:10 p.m. ET.

Today’s game marked the 11th between the United States and Argentina in U18 women’s tournaments. The Americans improved to 11-0 all-time.

TEAM NOTES

To Start: For the fourth game, the USA utilized the same starting lineup featuring Sienna Betts, Jasmine Davidson, Joyce Edwards, Kayleigh Heckel and Jordan Lee.

Tiebreaker: For the first time this week, the United States both saw a tied game and briefly trailed. Argentina went up 6-5 with 7:56 to play before Betts tied the game at 6 at the line at 7:47. From there, the U.S. went on an 15-0 run over the next 3+ minutes to take a 21-6 advantage on the way to a 31-14 lead at the end of the period. The USA, forcing turnovers as they have done all week, scored 12 points on 8 first quarter turnovers by Argentina.

Pesky: The USA continued to wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball, creating turnovers and tough shots and staying active on the boards. In keeping with tradition, the United States, who entered the game scoring an average of 40.0 points on 30.5 turnovers, forced 35 turnovers and converted 43 points off turnover today.

Lucky #10: Dating back to the 3rd quarter of the second Group game vs. Puerto Rico (102-22 win), the USA has allowed 10 points or less in 13 of 14 quarters, outscoring the opposition 421-85 in that span. Today, the Americans’ defense held Argentina to 23.6% (13-55 FG) from the field.

Truly Offensive: The Americans owned the offensive glass with those boards showing up on the scoreboard. Today’s performance of 31 offensive rebounds and 42 second chance points exceeded tournament averages of 26.5 ORPG and 27.3 second chance points.

PLAYER NOTES

So Much Sienna: In what has been a great tournament for Betts, she enjoyed another strong start, pacing her squad with 11 first quarter points (4-4 FG, 3-6 FT), 3 rebounds and 1 steal in 4:27.

By halftime, Betts had racked up 17 points (6-7 FG, 5-8 FT) to match the USA’s scoring mark for the tournament (J. Edwards, 17 vs. MEX) along with 5 rebounds (3 OR) and 1 steal in 9:45.

Betts totaled 20 points (7-8 FG, 6-10 FT) to become the 7th player in the tournament to record a 20-point performance. She added 6 rebounds and 1 steal in 13 minutes.

Emphasis on Edwards: Edwards’ last four games have seen her pace the United States on offense. Tonight, she recorded 14 first half points (7-12 FG) with 3 offensive boards in 15:19 and closed with 17 points (8-15 FG, 1-1 FT) and 6 rebounds in 18:59.

In her last four outings, Edwards averages 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 15.2 minutes.

Jazz Hands: Davidson came 1 steal shy of tying the USA women’s U18 single-game record with 7 (Alanna Beard, 8 vs. Mexico, 7/26/00). Entering the day, she had 8 total steals in 4 games.

For the game, Davidson contributed 10 points, 5 rebounds, game-high-tying 5 assists and 7 steals on 21:49.