Mt. Mercy basketball player competes in championship in Brazil

Mount Mercy point guard Catalina de la Quintana will have quite the experience this week.

Quintana, a native of Santiago, Chile, is in Brazil for the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, which begin today at Aecim Tocantins Gymnasium.

“Our first game (today) is against Cuba, and they are one of the stronger teams in the tournament,” she said. “It will be a big challenge for our team.”

International competition is nothing new to Quintana, who is competing in her fourth International Basketball Federation event. But this is a fresh experience for most of her teammates.

“Right now, our team is pretty young,” she said. “I'm one of five players with more experience than the rest.”

Quintana also will be counted on to lead the Mount Mercy women's basketball team this winter. She was a big reason the Mustangs went 24-9 and finished second in the Midwest Collegiate Conference a year ago.

Quintana competed for Chile in the 2005 South American Under-17 Championship, then was hand-picked by her coach to play in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and the 2008 South American Championship. Chile was third at last year's South American Championship and begins this tournament 28th in the FIBA world rankings.

There are eight teams in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship. Group A includes Brazil, ranked fourth in the world, as well as Canada (12th), Dominican Republic, (35th) and Puerto Rico (45th). Group B features Chile, Cuba (10th), Argentina (11th), and Venezuela.

After opening against Cuba on today, Chile wraps up the qualifying round against Argentina on Thursday and Venezuela on Friday. The top two teams in each pool reach the semifinals on Saturday, with the winners going for the gold and the losers for bronze on Sunday.

The top three teams qualify for the 16-team, 2010 FIBA World Championship in the Czech Republic.