South Carolina women's basketball AmeriCup Tournament preview
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The 2023 AmeriCup Tournament begins Saturday, July 1 in León, Mexican, and a pair of Gamecocks are participating.
Point guard Raven Johnson is a member of Team USA and center Kamilla Cardoso is a member of the Brazilian team. The United States and Brazil are both in Group A so they will face each other in the group phase.
The other teams in group A are Argentina, Venezuela, and Cuba. Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Colombia are in Group B.
The United States is the favorite to repeat as AmeriCup champions. The Americans were undefeated in 2021 with a team that featured Aliyah Boston and Destanni Henderson and was coached by Dawn Staley.
The United States is going for its fifth gold medal and a tie with Brazil for the most all-time. Brazil has slipped recently and is undergoing a youth movement. The Brazilians could challenge for a medal, although another gold is a long shot.
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The AmeriCup Tournament is one of the qualifying tournaments for the World Cup and the Olympics. However, the Americans have already qualified for the Olympics by virtue of winning the previous World Cup so they don’t send their senior national team to the AmeriCup. Other countries do send their senior team, or parts of it minus players in the WNBA.
Johnson is making her Team USA debut. Cardoso has more international experience. She won Bronze in the 2021 AmeriCup, made the 2022 Olympic Qualifying Tournament All-Star 5, and won MVP honors for leading Brazil to a gold medal in the 2022 South America Championship.
Each team plays four games during the five-day group phase. The top four teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. All of the games will be streamed by Courtside 1891. It costs $6.99 to subscribe to the AmeriCup tournament. There does not appear to be a free alternative.
USA Basketball schedule (times approximate):
July 1 vs Venezuela – 4:40 p.m. ET
July 2 vs Argentina – 4:40 p.m. ET
July 4 vs Brazil – 4:40 p.m. ET
July 5 vs Cuba – 2:10 p.m. ET
Brazil schedule (times approximate):
July 1 vs Cuba – 2:10 p.m. ET
July 2 vs Venezuela – 2:10 p.m. ET
July 3 vs Argentina – 4:40 p.m. ET
July 4 vs USA – 4:40 p.m. ET
Times for the knockout rounds will be announced later.
