July 3, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: AmeriCup breakdown
By The Next
Host Chelsea Leite recaps 2025 FIBA AmeriCup pool play and previews the knockout rounds
On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Chelsea Leite catches listeners up on all the action from the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup. She looks ahead to the knockout stage and predicts who she thinks will end the weekend atop the podium.
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In her breakdown of Group A’s pool play, which included Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, Leite highlights Brazil’s undefeated run through pool play, including a big win over Canada on Monday.
“My favorite game out of Group A during the group stage was definitely that Canada and Brazil game,” Leite said. “As I was watching this game, I think the biggest thing that I saw was the fact that I was like, oh, this is why they brought Kamilla [Cardoso] and Damiris Dantas back here for this tournament. Literally anything Canada tried to do in the post, Kamilla Cardoso was there to stop it. … So, I mean, it just goes to show, that’s why these federations go and pull their players from the WNBA.”
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While discussing the Group B side of things, including teams from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Chile, Mexico and the United States, Leite points out the USA’s domination thanks to their stacked roster of NCAA superstars.
“They chose not to take any WNBA players, but the USA just has such a deep rotation of players,” Leite said. “It’s just an exciting roster for them of young talent who are definitely going to come up and be able to play in Olympic games in the future, more FIBA AmeriCups, so it just kind of makes sense that they’re rolling through.”
To close out the episode, Leite predicts which teams she thinks will make it to the final. She lands on a matchup between Brazil and either the United States or Canada. Although she’s uncertain of what order they’ll end up in, she predicts that all three teams will make the final podium.
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