USVI Takes Gold On Home Court At Women’s Centrobasket Tournament

ST. THOMAS — While Puerto Rico defeated the USVI team on Sunday night at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in the last game of the Women’s Centrobasket Senior League Caribbean Regional Championship, the USVI team won the bigger prize: gold medal in the five-day tournament organized by the International Basketball Federation in the Americas (FIBA), and hosted for the first time in the territory.

The USVI team had been determined to beat PR last night. “We’ve never beaten our neighbors to the west in women’s basketball and it’s about high time we do,” said David Edole in a press release issued before last night’s game. Mr. Edole was hoping the win would start a women’s basketball revolution in the territory, but with the territory USVI team winning the five-day tourney’s gold medal — an even bigger prize than PR’s win last night — the revolution, perhaps, will not be stymied.

The USVI team punched their ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a rout of Jamaica, 60-40, Saturday night at UVI. The team separated themselves from the Jamaican team in second and third quarters, outscoring the veteran team 31-13. Victoria Hamilton was the player of that game with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Natalie Day rebounded from a rough start to contribute 14 points and nine rebounds, while Imani Tate added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Last night, however, Puerto Rico came back from an early deficit to win over the USVI in a nail-bitter, 60-58. Even so, the USVI’s Natalie Day was named MVP after charting 17 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Imani Tate added a tough 16 points with five rebounds and three assists. Victoria Hamilton added 12 points and nine rebounds. Lanese Bough had 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The USVI will now focus on AmeriCup 2017, which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The team will face groups such as Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Paraguay — all big teams with a wider pool of talent to choose from. According to Mr. Edole, the AmeriCup tournament represents an opportunity to get points and move up in the standings, adding that points are only awarded in continental cup play.