Box Score Jason Walker, UP Sports Information Director
Merida, Mexico – The University of Providence women's basketball team will play for the gold medal at the 2022 FISU Americas Games after the Argos defeated Team Argentina 66-57 Monday afternoon. Providence led 31-29 at the half, shooting 35 percent from the field while pulling down 32 first half rebounds. Thanks to a strong final 20 minutes, they put the game away with good defense and free throws. Unofficially, Kenedy Cartwright led the way with 22 points.
Head Coach Bill Himmelberg says playing in the gold medal game is something special for the Argos, the Frontier Conference, and the NAIA, "When you come here and you are supposed to represent your country, represent what you're about, represent excellence, and I think we've done that at every stretch. Our girls have had an opportunity to talk to a lot of people, trade pins, get their picture taken and they're celebrities here being from the United States. I am proud of our kids, and it is a big deal. Other countries see how our country is supposed to act and our girls have done that here."
Providence, which is representing Team USA at the games, will take on a Mexico team it lost to 70-48 Sunday to wrap pool play. In that game, the Argos coaching staff decided to play more minutes from the younger players on the team, resting the starters for the medal round. That seemed to pay off with the win over Argentina. Tuesday's game against the home country will be a hard-fought affair and Himmelberg says the Argos will have to be ready for everything, "The big thing is we are going to have to attack the rim, attack the offensive glass, and rebound both offensively and defensively. We need to hold them to one shot, and we are going to need to get multiple shots and take better care of the basketball. We cannot get flustered when the calls start coming because it's going to happen. We saw it in the Mexico/Columbia men's game at the end of the game (Monday). We are going to have to be 10-15 points better than them at the end or overcome some controversy at the end because every call is going to go their way, so we need to be ready for that." Himmelberg adds that aside from the mental toughness needed, both teams will need to overcome physical exhaustion as well. Each will be playing a fifth game in five days in hot, humid conditions inside the gym. "Hopefully, we (Providence) can overcome the tiredness and execute what we are asking them to do" says the 13th year head coach of the Argos.
Coverage of the gold medal game begins at approximately 12:30 PM MDT with live streaming available at www.upargos.com. It will be an exhibition for the University of Providence.
