ST THOMAS (FIBA Women’s AmeriCup) – Days after earning their qualification to the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017 with Centrobasket Women’s Gold, the National Team from the Virgin Islands was drawn into Group A of the continental championship.

During the Women’s Centrobasket Championship, Virgin Islands was led on and off the court by eventual MVP Natalie Day, who spoke with FIBA.com after the Gold Medal celebration.

“Overall I am extremely proud of my team's performance at the Centrobasket. Each night we came out better and better as a team. Our defense shocked a lot of our opponents. Coming in, we were seen as the youngest group with not a lot of depth but every person we put in played their role and benefitted our team as a whole. We only had one goal at the end of the day no matter what anyone else had to say and that was to walk away with the gold,” said Centrobasket 2017 MVP Natalie Day to FIBA.com.

“It all felt a little surreal. As co-captain my only goal was to make sure I stood as a pillar of leadership on my team while performing at the best of my abilities. I try to bring my experience from overseas play along with staying vocal on the court especially on defense. I wanted gold, that was the main goal,” added Day.

“Being named MVP just affirms all of the time, energy, and preparation I made for this tournament. It feels great,” added the player that averaged an 18.6-point and 11-rebound “double-double” throughout the qualifying tournament.

With their qualification goal achieved, the team will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina to play in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup from August 6-13 as part of Group A along with Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

“Moving forward our expectations stay the same. We get a chance to regroup before the tournament, assess our upcoming opponents and set new goals. Every time this team puts their mind to something, we do it. We've made history so far, there's no doubt in my mind that we will continue to do so moving forward,” concluded Day.

Virgin Islands will begin their AmeriCup participation on August 6th against Argentina, and then the team will face Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil consecutively. The team will need a top-two finish in the Group Phase to advance to the Semi-Finals of the continental championship.

The top three teams from the tournament will qualify to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 in Spain.

FIBA