A packed house at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) roared in delight on Sunday night when Guyana’s national women’s basketball team came from behind, after trailing at the end of the first half, to pull off a brilliant win against Jamaica, thus, sealing the silver medal at the FIBA Women’s Caribbean Championship 2025.
It was a must-win encounter for the Guyanese, who started the competition day in second place but needed a win to maintain their top-two finish.
Taking on a strong Jamaican side, Guyana found themselves trailing the visitors early on, putting up 14 points as opposed to Jamaica’s 17 in the first quarter.
Guyana’s scoring improved steadily in the second, as they accumulated 20 points, but it was still not enough to surpass Jamaica, who netted 18 points in that segment to maintain a 35-34 lead over the hosts.
However, some fancy feet came into play from Guyana’s Captain, Joy Brown, who found her rhythm in the third quarter, thus boosting her team’s game-play and scoring.
Guyana racked up 26 points in the third, against Jamaica’s 24 to take the lead for the first time in the contest, 60-59.
The home side went on to outscore Jamaica 23-15 in the last quarter to seal the emphatic 83-74 victory, propelled by an animated crowd at the Sports Hall.
Ruth Adams led the scoring charts for Guyana with 24 points, followed closely by Brown with 23. Ashna and Amisha Ramlall also put up 11 points each.
Earlier, Virgin Islands had defeated The Bahamas 105-81 to solidify their gold medal while The Bahamas had to settle for bronze.
Anisha George delivered a colossal performance with a 26-point, 21-rebound double-double. She knocked down 10 of her 13 attempts for a stellar 77 per cent shooting clip.
Imani Tate (22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and J-Naya Ephraim (17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds) also stood out for the champions. The Bahamas (2-2) finished in third place, and despite the setback, Lashann Higgs and Valerie Nesbitt impressed with 37 and 32 points, respectively.
In addition, Guyana’s Amisha Ramlall and Joy Brown were named alongside Bahamas’ Valeria Nesbitt, Jamaica’s Tiffany Reynolds and Virgin Islands’ Anisha George in the tournament’s All-Star Five. Meanwhile, George was declared the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Both Ramlall and Brown later reflected on their individual and team performances throughout the tournament.
“It’s been a great experience being here. From day one, it’s always been an honour to put on these jerseys and represent this country. I’ve had fun, I’ve enjoyed my time with the Ramlall sisters, I’ve enjoyed the time with my teammates and hopefully we keep their programme going, hopefully it doesn’t stop here,” Brown told media operatives after the tournament concluded.
The Guyanese Captain added, “We took one game at a time and we knew that if we took one game at a time, we at least want to qualify for the CentroBasket next year and we completed that. And now, we work to the next step, of doing well and qualifying for the next tournament or getting another gold or silver. It’s on the up and up and we’re going to work towards that,”
On the other hand, Ramlall expressed, “Also, what Joy said, it’s been an honour to represent Guyana along with my sisters and Joy and all the amazing teammates and playing against players from all over the world. So, it’s been a great honour.”
“I would say, we played really well as a team, obviously we had our ups and downs, but we came back from our loss and we punched back. Obviously, we didn’t get a gold medal now, but we have to look to the next tournament, what we can do better and just focus on that,” Ramlall continued.
The tournament’s top three – Virgin Islands, Guyana and The Bahamas – have all qualified for next year’s CentroBasket tournament.
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