The Women’s Premier Basketball Association team had another game on Thursday to finish group play in the tournament to determine the club champion of the Americas. After a win on Wednesday, they knew that it would be a tough test against a Sportiva Italiana team playing in their home country that had also won their opening game on Tuesday.
There was an adjustment to the starting lineup as Miyu Mizukawa and DeAngelique Waithe joined Alaiyah San Juan, Connie Clarke, and Kharyssa Richardson at the beginning of the game. As was the case the previous day, the opposition had the better start, but Sportiva Italiana continued to extend their lead with an even better second quarter for a dominant 59-32 halftime advantage.
The second half was closer, but the team did not get much closer, playing well to end the third quarter and only having a difference of one basket during the period. After stopping that run, Sportiva Italiana went on their own fourth quarter surge and ended up winning 106-73. It was a tough outcome for the team, but they did get further time on the court together in preparation for the knockout round when a loss will mean elimination from championship contention.
As the team in first place the group, Sportiva Italiana earned a spot in Saturday’s semifinals. The Bay Area Phoenix will play in Friday’s quarterfinals next at 4pm PT. Since they finished in second place, they are facing the team that finished in last place in the other group, Defensor Sporting from Uruguay. Even though they finished winless, their last loss was only by two points and it will be harder to go against a team that got a day to rest in this tournament format.
Sportiva Italiana [106]: Andrea Daley 24/13r Sierra Moore 21/7a Valentina Ojeda 19/6r Jessica Jackson 16/7r Josefina Viafora 7 Thaire Garcia 5 Martina Cabrera 5 Anisa Jeffries 4 Renata Diaz 4 Carolina Abarca 1 Estefania Astudillo 0 Paula Ortiz 0
Bay Area Phoenix [73]: Rosemarie Julien 15/6r Kharyssa Richardson 14 Connie Clarke 12 Miyu Mizukawa 10 Alaiyah San Juan 7 DeAngelique Waithe 6 Isabel Gonzalez 5 Aniya McDonald-Perry 4 Faatimah A 0
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