By R.L. Bynum

The United States team rolled into the medal round with three blowout victories at the FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship, and future Tar Heel Lanie Grant returned for Thursday’s win over Mexico after missing a game.

After Grant scored 12 points in the Americans’ 124–39 Tuesday victory over Puerto Rico, she was one of several players from other teams, all staying at the same hotel in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, who started feeling sick.

For about 14 hours, she felt pretty sick and missed Wednesday’s 93–28 win over Colombia. The team doctors told her they thought she might have a stomach virus. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant, but she improved enough to play 20 minutes and score eight points in Thursday’s 123–27 victory over host Mexico at Poliforum Zamna arena.

Probably still not feeling 100%, Grant, a five-star recruit ranked by ESPN No. 20 in the Class of 2025, was 2 of 6 from the floor, 1 of 3 from 3-point range and collected three rebounds, four assists and one steal with one turnover.

The United States, 39–1 all-time in U16 competition, converted 27 Mexico turnovers into 32 points in building a 71–17 halftime lead.

It’s probably helpful to Grant that the team gets Friday off before Saturday’s quarterfinals, when the United States (3–0) faces the Dominican Republic (0–3) at 7:30. If the Americans win, they’d face the winner of the quarterfinal matching Argentina (2–1) and Colombia (1–2) in the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, Canada (3–0) meets Mexico (0–3) and Puerto Rico (2–1) faces Brazil (1–2).

The semifinals are Sunday and the championship game is Monday, with the U.S. and Canada clear favorites to advance.

Potential UNC 2024–25 roster

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	—	Lanie Grant (5 star)	PG	5–10
Freshman	—	Blanca Thomas (5 star)	C	6–5
Freshman	—	Jordan Zubich (4 star)	G	5–11
RS Freshman	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS Freshman	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Sophomore	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Sophomore	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
RS Junior	11	Kayla McPherson	PG	5–8
Junior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10
Senior	5	Maria Gakdeng	C	6–3
Graduate	—	Grace Townsend	G	5–5
Graduate	20	Lexi Donarski	G	6–0
Graduate	1	Alyssa Ustby	F	6–1

2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal

Class	Player	Date entered	Pos.	Hgt	Next school
Junior	Paulina Paris	March 26	G	5–9	Arizona
Graduate	Ali Zelaya	April 1	F	6–4	UNCW
Graduate	Anya Poole	April 1	F	6–2	TBA
RS junior	Teonni Key	April 2	F	6–4	Kentucky
Sophomore	RyLee Grays	April 5	F	6–3	TBA
Graduate	Deja Kelly	April 8	G	5–8	TBA