SANTIAGO (Chile) – Trinity San Antonio showed up relentless when Puerto Rico’s World Cup dream seemed out of reach. Her six points in the fourth quarter led Puerto Rico to a 67-72 win over Mexico on Saturday, securing a place in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments. The second classification game of the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup was one of the tournament’s most thrilling matchups. Puerto Rico rallied from an 11-point deficit to avoid falling victim to the upset. With just three minutes left, the team was on the verge of missing out on a third consecutive World Cup appearance—but the miracle happened.
With 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, Mexico had built a 9-point lead (67-58). But Pamela Rosado and Arella Guirantes responded with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the gap to three. Then San Antonio stepped up with the two most crucial field goals of the game, putting the Caribbean squad ahead 68-67. Later, Rosado and San Antonio combined for four free throws to seal the win in Chile.
San Antonio answered Puerto Rico’s prayers. Things looked bleak after Mya Hollingshed fouled out, and then Guirantes left the game due to injury. But the point guard took over, scoring 6 of her 17 points in the final quarter. She also tallied 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Guirantes had picked up steam offensively toward the end, but a collision with Mexico’s Mariana Valenzuela forced her out of the game. The shooting guard still finished with 16 points and 4 assists, while Hollingshed added 13. Together, they contributed six of Puerto Rico’s 10 three-pointers. For Mexico, Valenzuela led all scorers with 22 points, including 4 triples. The center also grabbed 7 rebounds and made 2 steals. Forward Myriam Lara recorded 9 boards, 8 points, and 2 blocks.
Mexico led the scoreboard for 34 minutes and 58 seconds. The team’s offensive collapse began with 6:24 left in the final quarter. In that span, they scored just 3 free throws and 1 field goal. They missed 10 shots—including six from beyond the arc—and committed two turnovers.
Puerto Rico will now have the chance to finish among the tournament’s top five teams when it faces Colombia on Sunday. It will be the second meeting in Chile—Puerto Rico won the group stage game 68-65. Meanwhile, Mexico will take on the Dominican Republic to determine the seventh-place finisher.
Puerto Rico’s head coach, Gerardo Batista, described the win in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2025 classification round as a “hard-fought victory.” “We couldn’t find our rhythm from the beginning. Credit to Mexico, they did a great job defensively. We had a strong reaction at the end and managed to pull it off.”
FIBA
