2023 Panamerican Games - Venezuela finishes at fifth place with win over Chile

Venezuela's Women Senior National Team finished at fifth place in the 2023 Panamerican Games, held at Santiago, by defeating the hosts, Chile, 79-70, and finishing with an overall 2-2 record in the tournament.
The home team had taken a 20-16 lead after the first quarter and extended that domain until the end of the first half (37-33), but Venezuela, coached by Argentinian Eduardo Pinto , changed things around during the third quarter with a 28-10 run that earned the Vinotinto Team a commanding 14-point lead (61-47) heading into the final 10 minutes, in which Chile cut the deficitr to 9 points but couldn't avoid the defeat (79-70).
As it was the rule during the tournament, PG Mariana Duran (172-PG-1993, college: Okla City) led Venezuela offensively with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, followed by Jormelys Urbina (170-PG-1996) with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Guadalupe Diaz (163-PG-1999) added 10 points, including a couple of three-point shots.
Chile's top scorers were Thiare Garcia (179-G/F-2000) with 12 points and 5 assists, Fernanda Ovalle (178-G-2003, college: Xavier) with 12 points and 4 rebounds, Javiera Novion (170-PG-1987, college: Eckerd) with 11 points and Tatiana Gomez (192-C-1981) with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Venezuela finished up with a 2-2 record. After initial defeats against Colombia (84-51) and Brazil (94-47), they were able to take down Mexico (71-65) and then Chile (79-70). It was the third participation of Venezuela in the Panamerican Games when it comes to Women's Basketball, after the experiences of Caracas (1983) and Toronto (2019).
The Venezuelan Basketball Federation (FVB) shared a press release with comments from the players about finishing at fifth place:
Mariana Duran: "In the first two games it was noticeable that we hadn't trained enough as a team. After the game against Brazil, we're seeing improvements that are very important heading towards Medellin (Olympic Qualy Tournament). We have to dream big because after the FIBA Americup we've been feeling pretty well about the team"
Yosimar Corrales (184-PF-1990): "We wanted to be at the podium and we were working one game at a time for that. I'm proud of the girls. They're amazing, they're courageous and have the mindset of coming back and turning things around. We're glad even though we didn't win a medal"
Jormelys Urbina: "It's about consistency and I'm always trying to take advantage of the minutes I get. I'm always going to give my one hundred percent. We came here with the goal of fighting for a medal but saddly we couldn't get it done. We have now another tournament coming up and this was good to prepare for that. The physical aspect of the game is very important".
The Olympic Qualy Tournament will take place in Medellin, Colombia between November 9th and the 12th.