SportStar Of The Week: Aquira DeCosta

St. Mary’s-Stockton – Basketball – Senior

Showing why she’s one of the nation’s top talents for the Class of 2018, DeCosta was nothing short of phenomenal in leading the U.S. to gold at the FIBA U18 Women’s 3×3 World Cup in Chengdu, China. DeCosta was named the World Cup MVP after leading the tournament in scoring with 35 points over seven games. The U.S. defeated the Czech Republic 21-14 in the gold medal game, closing the contest on an 8-1 run after the teams played to a 13-13 tie with 3:30 left to play. Games are won with 21 points or whoever is ahead when time expires.

Janelle Bailey scored the game-clinching bucket for the Americans with 43.6 seconds left. Bailey had a team-high 11 points in the final. DeCosta led the team with six points in an 18-14 semifinal win over Russia. It’s DeCosta’s first gold medal in her third summer wearing the red, white and blue. Last summer, she helped the U17 National Team win bronze at the U17 World Championships in Spain. She set a U17 World Championships record with 71 rebounds during the tournament. In 2015, she took bronze with the U16 National Team.

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PHOTO CREDITS: FIBA.com

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