TORONTO — Brazilian star Isabella Nascimento had an off game Thursday, but her teammates picked her up, controlling the lane against a smaller Puerto Rico frontcourt.
Heloisa Carrera was a force in the paint, scoring 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and adding 12 rebounds as Brazil ran away late with a 78-49 win at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Nascimento scored fourteen points but had an uncharacteristically inefficient night, shooting 5-of-22 from the floor and 2-of-16 from three while adding four assists. Back-up point guard Marcella Freitas had 12 points and seven dimes.
Giselle Maul led Puerto Rico in scoring for a second straight game, netting 14 to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
Carrera scored the first basket of the game on an open transition layup, and Brazil continued to push on the break for easy points.
Ana Beatriz da Silva went end-to-end off a miss through retreating defenders for a layup, resulting in a Puerto Rico timeout, then immediately got out on the break after another miss, this time with a wide-open path to the hoop. Brazil outscored Puerto Rico 6-0 in transition points in the first quarter and 14-2 overall in the game.
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“We just wanted to move the ball up the court, get easy transition buckets, easy layups the best way we could,” said Nascimento after the win. “And that was in transition instead of setting it up half-court. So once you get the rebound, hit the outlet, kick up ahead, easy buckets.”
After leading Brazil in scoring by a wide margin with 25 points in their Wednesday loss to Canada, Nascimento started out ice cold, missing her first nine triples of the game.
Set to enter her junior year with the William & Mary Tribe, Nascimento led the program to its first-ever Coastal Athletic Association championship, averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game and scoring 33 in the championship game to take home Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. William & Mary also made their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
But Nascimento was unable to create or make shots the way she usually does. Instead, it was Carrera depositing a putback layup to cap an early 8-0 Brazil run, making the score 10-2.
Puerto Rico showed sharp help and pressure to force a Brazil shot clock violation, and Giselle Maul responded by making two catch-and-shoot threes from the top of the floor — her only two shots in the opening quarter. Paola Hernandez scored twice, including a middy jumper to cut Brazil’s lead to 16-15 after the first frame.
Carrera continued to own the lane, finishing easily over top of Puerto Rico’s smaller frontcourt to lead Brazil with 10 points at the half. Maul matched with 10 for Puerto Rico.
The game ground to a halt with stagnant half-court offence, fouls and turnovers as only one basket was scored in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
The lid finally came off the rim for Nascimento a couple minutes into the second half, as her 10th three-point attempt of the game found mesh.
“I have short-term memory. I just think the next one is going to go in, because I know that’s my shot, I know I can knock it down,” said Nascimento. “Today just wasn’t my day.”
Jasmine Nivar made back-to-back twos for Puerto Rico, a short corner pull-up and a make at the rim. Nascimento responded by working into space and canning a mid-range pull-up of her own.
Freitas also put her mark on the game off the bench, setting up Carrera out of the pick-and-roll with a pocket pass and drawing a shooting foul for two made free throws the next trip down.
Going into the fourth up nine, Brazil put the pedal to the floor, outscoring Puerto Rico 29-8 to make what was mostly a close game end up as a laugher. Brazil led 10-0 in paint points in the frame and outrebounded Puerto Rico by five.
Brazil will take on the Texas Longhorns Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT, a familiar matchup for Nascimento, who lost 105-61 to the Longhorns in NCAA play last season with William and Mary, leading the way with 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Puerto Rico will tip off against host Canada in the 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT game Saturday.
