Former Rutgers women’s basketball star Arella Guirantes is playing for team Puerto Rico and putting on a show at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Group play has wrapped up at the World Cup and the Puerto Rico star is leading all scorers with 18 points per game. Guirantes is playing for her national team for the first time and making an immediate impact. Puerto Rico finished in dead last in their last two international competitions, but the former Scarlet Knight has led them to two victories and the team’s first ever trip to the World Cup Quarterfinals.
The former Scarlet Knight also leads all players in total points with 90. Guirantes has twice scored over 25 points – once recording a double-double with 10 rebounds and the other falling just short with nine boards.
[lawrence-related id=19249]
The 24-year-old rising star is honored to represent her heritage and the country where her grandfather is from. She spoke to media about this when first joining the team:
“It’s a great experience. It’s a blessing to finally put on this jersey,” said Guirantes. “I was just thinking before the [Belgium] game. It kind of hit me right during the national anthems. I felt like I had more pride wearing this jerseyย andย I owed it to more than just myself to play hard.”
“So, it’s a beautiful feeling. It’s great to play with these girls and be coached by these coaches here, and I’m just grateful for the experience.”
Prior to joining Puerto Rico, Guirantes was drafted in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks and is currently a free agent. In her senior season with Rutgers, she averaged 21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 2.2 steals per game and was named to the First Team All-Big Ten team.
Arella Guirantes was ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ
Her near triple-double inspired Puerto Rico to a huge win over Bosnia and Herzegovina! #FIBAWWC pic.twitter.com/pFkMwxHanJ
— FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWWC) September 22, 2022
[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]