WBB: Gamecocks excel in AmeriCup Tournament

Team USA won the gold in the AmeriCup tournament, and three Gamecocks earned medals while a fourth turned heads.

USA (Gold Medal)

Aliyah Boston

Stats: 12.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.8 bpg, 53.7 FG%, 16-19 FTs

Boston struggled in the semifinals against Brazil, but bounced back with a huge performance in the gold medal game against Puerto Rico. She had 17 points, 19 rebounds, and two assists to help the Aericans pull away in the second half. Boston was the leading rebounder in the tournament, was third in blocks, and had the highest efficiency rating by a significant margin.

Destanni Henderson

Stats: 5.5 ppg, 3.7 apg

Henderson began the tournament coming off the bench and was productive in that role. She moved into the starting lineup for the last two games and struggled in that role, producing a total of three points, one assist, and four turnovers in the two games combined.

Brazil (Bronze Medal)

Kamilla Cardoso

Stats: 9.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.6 bpg

Brazil was a veteran team so Cardoso was more of a role player than the other Gamecocks. She still made a big impact. Silva had eight points, four rebounds, and a block against Canada, including four points in the second overtime and a block on a Laeticia Amihere attempt at a game-tying basket. Silva was fourth in the tournament in blocks and fifth in rebounding. She also was sixth in efficiency rating.

Canada (Lost Bronze Medal Game)

Laeticia Amihere

Stats: 12.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.9 bpg

Amihere had a sensational tournament, getting better as the games went on. She finished the competition with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Dominican Republic, 12 points and 11 rebounds against Puerto RIco, and then game-highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds against Brazil, when she hit a game-tying three and then got the defensive stop to send the game to overtime. Canada was without some of its best players due to the WNBA season, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that Amihere led Canada in scoring and rebounding and was top ten in the tournament in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and efficiency rating. Amihere’s only weakness was free throw shooting. She shot well to start the tournament, but was just 7-18 from the line over the last three games.

U.S. Virgin Islands (1-4)

Alexis Boston

Stats: 0.0 ppg, 0.3 rpg

Boston is Aliyah’s sister and played junior college basketball before becoming a team manager for the Gamecocks. (Both Aliyah and Alexis were eligible for either the US or Virgin Islands team, but once they selected a country they can’t switch.) Boston averaged just 2.4 minutes in her four appearances and her only statistic was a rebound, but she got to play a high of four minutes against the USA

Big Picture

The USA took gold for the second consecutive tournament. The USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico will now prepare for the Olympics. For the Americans, the Olympic team will be made up of a different group of players, so Boston and Henderson will not compete. Dawn Staley, Boston, and Henderson will return to Columbia. Staley will get a few weeks with the Gamecocks before going to Las Vegas for the Olympic training camp July 12. The Olympics begin July 23. Canada’s Olympic and AmeriCup teams come from the same pool of players. Canada has not determined its Olympic roster, but Amihere made a strong case to be included.