Christiansted was packed Saturday morning with a crowd anxious to congratulate the USVI Senior Women’s National Basketball team on its gold-medal win last month at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
The final game came down to the wire, Coach Tajama Abraham-Ngongba said of the team’s final 76-72 victory over the Dominican Republic. In the months leading up to the tournament, the coaching team worked hard to keep the players confident in their abilities and “winning the things that we could control,” like rebounding. The strategy paid off and at the final buzzer, the team celebrated the territory’s first-ever gold-medal win at the CAC Games in basketball.
V.I. forward/center Anisha George finished the final game with a double-double, along with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds.
“I know people didn’t expect it,” George said Saturday as the team’s members made their way through Christiansted for a parade in their honor. “We basically came as a substitute team, as one of the other national teams didn’t come. We had an extended invitation and to come away with the gold just shows how much we can do.”
What the win means for the territory is significant, V.I. Basketball Federation Honorary President Usie Richards said. Many of the team’s members already compete professionally overseas, and together, set a standard for the level of play the territory should aspire to, especially in basketball, he said.
