The United States Virgin Islands entered the Caribbean Women’s Basketball Championship 2025 with the dual goal of qualifying for the Centrobasket Women’s Championships, scheduled for 2026, and finishing first in the five-team round-robin tournament.
On Friday, Nov.14, the USVI women took on Suriname. Once again, the VI girls relied on their defense to procure this win. Suriname produced more turnovers, 40, than they scored in the entire contest, 33. USVI cruised to an 84-33 beatdown of Suriname. Imani Tate and Natalie Kleemann-Day were the two main contributors, as they were responsible for six and five steals, respectively. J-Naya Ephraim and Naja Ngonba were also willing accomplices as they both recorded three steals each.
Offensively, everyone on the USVI roster contributed to the 84 points. Taylor Jones played well with 18 points. Ephraim added 14 points in the win. Suriname’s Chiniqua Pengel scored 12 points. She was the only player able to reach double digits.
In the nightcap, the Bahamas defeated Jamaica 88-56. Three Bahamian women outscored the Jamaican team by themselves. Valicia Demeritte, 25 points, Lashann Higgs, 23 points, and Valerie Nesbitt accounted for 68 of the Bahamas’ total points. Carissa Robinson was Jamaica’s best scorer with 13.
The USVI has two remaining games in the tournament. They are playing Jamaica at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in Georgetown, Guyana. A win will ensure that they will be one of the three teams moving on to the next round. Their final game will be on Sunday, Nov. 16, where they will face The Bahamas.
