Tennessee standout Rickea Jackson scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the USA dropped the FIBA AmeriCup gold medal game to a veteran Brazil squad, 69-58, on Sunday night at Domo de la Feria. Both teams were playing their seventh game in nine days and met for the second time during the event. The Brazilians, featuring a roster of players who will most likely represent their country in the next Olympics, had won the first meeting vs. USA on July 4 in Group A play, 67-54.
It is the sixth AmeriCup title for Brazil, which won its first gold since 2011. For the Americans, the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 20, the runner-up effort earned them their sixth medal in the history of the tourney. They have four golds and two silvers now to their credit all-time. Jackson finished 10 of 18 shooting from the field with a steal and a block in a team-high 32 minutes. Lady Vol teammate Jewel Spear hit a pair of threes to finish with six points and added an assist in 19 minutes of duty. Jackson finished the tournament averaging 14.6 ppg. and 4.9 rpg., while Spear produced 5.6 ppg. and 1.4 apg. over seven contests. Jackson’s scoring average was fourth among the 109 players seeing action in the 2023 AmeriCup.