By R.L. Bynum

Deja Kelly’s United States team advanced to the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup semifinals on Friday, coasting to a victory over Colombia.

The Americans’ first eight baskets came from eight players as they took control early and coasted to a 68–49 win in a quarterfinal game at Domo de la Feria in León, Mexico.

The Americans’ opponent in Saturday’s 10:10 p.m. ET semifinals will be Canada (5–0), which beat Argentina 68–60 in another quarterfinal. The winner of Saturday’s game will play for the gold medal on Sunday against the winner of the 7:40 p.m. semifinal between Brazil and Puerto Rico, and the losers will play Sunday for the bronze medal.

Kelly, who leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, came off the bench for the third consecutive game, collecting two points, three rebounds and two assists in 13½ minutes. Her lowest playing time in the previous four games was nearly 18 minutes when she started the 89–74 opening-game victory Saturday over Venezuela.

“In camp, coach was telling us the importance of spacing and being intentional with our movements on both ends of the floor,” Kelly said in a USA Basketball story. “These professionals in other countries have played together for some time now so we have to think smarter and faster than they do.

“We’ve also done a lot of live play against each other just to build the chemistry. It takes reps to get it all together but I think we all are gelling pretty well. We are all good friends who love to compete with each other.”

Kelly said that Carolina’s style prepared her for how the Americans are playing in Mexico.

“We like to play fast and together at UNC. Coming here to USA Basketball the first thing I realized while practicing was the similarity between the two,” Kelly said. “The ACC is a physical, competitive conference in itself so all that carryover for international play has prepared me well for this moment.

“I want to contribute to this team the best way I can so we can continue that winning tradition and bring home that gold medal. This would be my first ever gold medal and I would love to win it during my first run with the AmeriCup team.”

UCLA’s Lauren Betts (16 points, 14 rebounds) and LSU’s Angel Reese (13 and 18) were strong inside again against Colombia, with both posting double-doubles. Reese’s 18 rebounds were the second-most by an American player at the AmeriCup behind the 19 Aliyah Boston pulled down in 2021 against Puerto Rico.

“Most of them are from my misses, so I try to get as many rebounds as I can from my misses,” Reese said with a laugh about her rebounds. “I’m just doing whatever it takes to win and I know I’m a really important piece to this team. When it comes to rebounding, that’s just my advantage. I bring whatever it takes to win.”

Rikea Jackson added 15 points for the USA.

The Americans (4–1) seized an early 23–11 lead in the first quarter, shooting 53.3% and scoring three 3-pointers with five of eight field goals assisted.

Date	Day/month	Score	Opponent/event (current rank)	Record
	November
8	Wednesday	W, 102–49	vs. Gardner-Webb	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 74–70	vs. Davidson	2–0
15	Wednesday	W, 62–32	vs. Hampton	3–0
18	Saturday	W, 68–39	vs. Elon	4–0
			Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
24	Friday	W, 54–51	Vermont	5–0
25	Saturday	L, 63–56	No. 15 Kansas State	5–1
26	Sunday	L, 65–64	Florida Gulf Coast	5–2
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
30	Thursday	L, 65–58	vs. No. 1 South Carolina	5–3
	December
6	Wednesday	W, 81–66	vs. UNC Greensboro	6–3
			Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn.
10	Sunday	L, 76–64	No. 10 Connecticut	6–4
			———————
15	Friday	W, 96–36	vs. Western Carolina	7–4
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
19	Tuesday	W, 61–52	No. 18 Oklahoma	8–4
			ACC season
31	Sunday	W, 82–76	vs. Clemson	9–4, 1–0 ACC
	January
4	Thursday	W, 75–51	vs. No. 22 Syracuse	10–4, 2–0 ACC
7	Sunday	W, 61–57	at No. 9 Notre Dame	11–4, 3–0 ACC
11	Thursday	L, 70–62	at Florida State	11–5, 3–1 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 81–68	vs. Virginia	12–5, 4–1 ACC
18	Thursday	W, 73–68	at Georgia Tech	13–5, 5–1 ACC
21	Sunday	W, 79–68	vs. No. 23 Louisville	14–5, 6–1 ACC
25	Thursday	W, 66–61	vs. Miami	15–5, 7–1 ACC
28	Sunday	L, 81–66	at Virginia	15–6, 7–2 ACC
	February
1	Thursday	L, 63–59	at No. 11 N.C. State	15–7, 7–3 ACC
4	Sunday	L, 70–61, OT	vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech	15–8, 7–4 ACC
11	Sunday	L, 68–60, OT	at Duke	15–9, 7–5 ACC
15	Thursday	W, 75–62	vs. Pittsburgh	16–9, 8–5 ACC
18	Sunday	W, 58–50	at Wake Forest	17–9, 9–5 ACC
22	Thursday	W, 80–70	vs. No. 11 N.C. State	18–9, 10–5 ACC
25	Sunday	L, 74–62	at No. 13 Virginia Tech	18–10, 10–6 ACC
29	Thursday	L, 78–74	at Boston College	18–11, 10–7 ACC
	March
3	Sunday	W, 63–59	vs. Duke	19–11, 11–7 ACC
			ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum
7	Thursday	L, 60–59	Second round: vs. Miami	19–12
			NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C.
22	Friday	W, 59–56	First round: Michigan State	20–12
24	Sunday	L, 88–41	Second round: No. 1 South Carolina	20–13

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