There has been a lot of criticism in the US lately as to how the White House normally handles natural disaster crisis in Puerto Rico and how long the federal government takes to respond, almost as if it weren’t United States territory, so Puerto Rico Women’s National Basketball Team sent a message yesterday from Australia.
Yesterday, September 27, Puerto Rico Women’s National Basketball team beat South Korea in a 92-73 victory in Australia at the FIBA World Cup, ending the qualifiers and moving on to the quarterfinals. Mya Hollingshed and Arella Guirantes were the top scorers for the Caribbean Island and Arella played a major role defensively. The team was invited to the competition for replacing Russia, the country was banned from the tournament due to the ongoing war against Ukraine.
But what really marked the game yesterday was not only the win itself and moving to the quarterfinals in this competition which was a milestone to Puerto Ricans, but all players and the head coach said that they expected the victory would bring some joy to the population and that they were dedicating this moment to their country, as the island has been devastated by Hurricane Fiona killing at least 16 people, leaving 68 missing and causing most areas to be without power and running water.
“Making history now for us, with what our country is going through due to Hurricane Fiona. It’s monumental and I hope that it brings some joy to the country and that’s all we want to do, through basketball bring some joy,” said player Tayra Melendez.
We all hope Puerto Rico quickly recovers from this calamitous catastrophe.
