Despite an improved performance, Trinidad and Tobago's U16 girls still went under 33-52 to Costa Rica at the Centrobasket U17 Women's 2023 Qualifiers in Nicaragua on July 29. With the loss, T&T record drops to 0-3.
Costa Rica took early control of the game and held a narrow 11-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. However, T&T led by point guard Carissa Ramdial fought back to outscore their opponents 8-7 in the second session. Nevertheless, in the third Costa Rica regained the tempo and comfortably outscored T&T 17-4. In the final quarter, T&T had a late surge but Costa Rica's lead was too demanding. The quarter ended 17-12 for the winners.
With the victory, Costa Rica remains in third place in Group A with a 2-1 record. Panama and host Nicaragua currently lead the group standings with 3-0, Guatemala fourth with 1-2 while T&T is fifth, ahead of Honduras due to the +/- Game Points difference.
For T&T, point guard Carissa Ramdial had a game high 15Pts along with 4Asts and 5Stls, back up point guard Mya-Leanna Raymond added 8Pts, 2Rebs, 1Ast & 4Stls, power forward Amariah Clyne tallied 7Pts, a shared game high 11Rebs, 1Ast & 3Stls, while small forward Julia George and center Mariah Charles both pulled down ten rebounds each.
Center Maria Ramirez led Costa Rica with a double-double 14Pts & 11Rebs, back-up center Maria Montero also had a double 11Pts & 11Rebs, small forward Maria Orozco 9Pts, 5Rebs, 6Asts & 6Stls while power forward Maria Gomez contributed 5Pts.
T&T will seek their first win in the next game against 4th place Guatemala (1-2) on Saturday at 8:30pm.
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