(León) Nirra Fields had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Canada to a 68-60 win over Argentina on Friday in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Quarter-Finals.
Aaliyah Edwards added 13 points and 16 rebounds while Shay Colley had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Canada.
The Canadians now meet the Americans in the semifinals, who defeated Colombia 68-49 on Friday. The duel will take place on Saturday, with the opportunity to reach the final on Sunday.
Julieta Mungo led Argentina with 12 points. Melisa Gretter scored 11 points while Candela Gentinetta finished the game with 10 points.
Argentina rocketed ahead 6-0 early in the game and led 20-18 after the first quarter. Canada, however, turned the tide to take a 38-30 lead after two quarters.
The Maple Leaf representatives saw their lead shrink to three points before the start of the fourth quarter. With 2:33 to go, Gretter had five straight points to pull Argentina closer at 64-60.
Just over a minute later, Fields pushed the lead to six points with a jump shot as a steal from Sami Hill led to two Edwards free throws with just 33.3 seconds left. to do.
Canada entered the quarter-finals having finished atop Group B with a 4-0 record. Brazil, who finished first in Group B, also remained unbeaten after beating Mexico 83-61 to join Puerto Rico in the other semi-final.
While the United States have already qualified for the Paris Games, the top team in the AmeriCup, which has 10 teams, will automatically advance to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will take place in February 2024.
The next top three teams will take part in regional Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments in November.
