TORONTO — Barring a miracle, there will be a Canada-U.S. final on the women’s side at GLOBL JAM on Sunday.
The Texas Longhorns, representing the USA, defeated Brazil 90-54 Saturday at Mattamy Athletic Centre, moving to 3-0 going into the women’s gold medal game.
While it’s not a literal impossibility, the Canadian women would have to lose by more than 94 points against Puerto Rico Saturday night to miss out on their second crack at the Longhorns. Canada lost 70-61 in a hard-fought matchup against Texas on Thursday.
"We played really hard, were really, I thought, connected, against them the other night," said Texas coach Vic Schaefer after the game of their win against Canada Thursday. "We'll have to be connected again."
Starting guard Bryanna Preston scored a team-high 22 for the Longhorns, adding six assists and four steals, while Breya Cunningham had 15 points and six rebounds. Both players were hyper-efficient, shooting 9-of-14 and 7-of-10 from the field, respectively.
Brazil was without their top player and captain, William & Mary guard Isabella Nascimento, due to a family commitment. Last season’s Coastal Athletic Association tournament MVP, Nascimento led Brazil with 25 points in their first game against Canada but struggled in their second game against Puerto Rico, going 2-of-16 from three.
GLOBL JAM on Sportsnet
Top Canadian under-23 players are set to square off against international counterparts at GLOBL JAM this week in Toronto. Catch all of Canada's games, along with the men's and women's final on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
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Marcella Freitas stepped into the starting five and led the way for Brazil with 14 points and five assists.
Freitas scored the first basket of the game on a one-dribble pull-up two. Preston and Ashton Judd sank threes to start for Texas.
Some swift strikes in transition — a steal and runout off an inbound by Teya Sidberry and transition pull-up two by Rori Harmon — got the Longhorns out to a 10-2 lead.
Cunningham was active defensively as a big, jumping a passing lane for a steal, getting out at the level of the pick to blow up a double drag screen and showing strong help principles.
Ana Beatriz da Silva made a tough turnaround in the lane and Taissa Queiroz drained a wing three with a hand in her face as Brazil brought the score back to 16-14 late in the first quarter.
But a quick Aaliyah Crump three and Rori Harmon contested pull-up two in the lane over Freitas sparked a 7-0 Texas run.
The Longhorns dialled up the urgency of their full-court press after the first quarter. Jordan Lee hounded Freitas full court and they brought the pressure, attempting to deny Brazil’s players the ball whenever they inbounded out of their backcourt. Brazil was initially able to navigate the pressure, but eventually wore down and committed a five-second violation and an eight-second violation on consecutive possessions.
"It's how we play, we press all game, every game, 40 minutes," said Schaefer. "That's just our style. We started Bry (Preston) today. She gave us some great energy, played really well. Along with Rori, and those two were not much fun to go against full court."
Texas grabbed 15 steals, forced 25 total turnovers and capitalized by outscoring Brazil 30-8 in points off giveaways and 21-3 on the fastbreak.
As the shot clock wound down, Freitas stuck a contested pull-up three from the top of the floor amidst a game-high 6-0 Brazil run, bringing the score within 11. But more shot-making from Texas — an open Lee triple from the wing and a pull-up two from Crump — extended the Longhorns’ lead to 42-28 at halftime.
Texas opened the second half searching out Cunningham in the paint, first shorting the pick-and-roll for an and-one and then for an easy post-up and hook shot, triggering a Brazil timeout.
Harmon got middle off the dribble at will throughout the game, coasting to the free throw line and sticking another clean pull-up jumper to extend the Longhorns’ lead to 20 in the third quarter. It only snowballed from there as a Cunningham putback and Preston triple put the score out of reach for Brazil.
Next up
With the win, the Longhorns clinched a spot in Sunday’s women’s gold medal game at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. Canada is all but guaranteed to meet them there, as only a loss by more than 94 against Puerto Rico in the 8 p.m. game on Saturday would eliminate the home side.
