SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- The Pan American basketball confederation rejected Brazil's protest of its semifinal loss to the United States on Saturday.

Anibal Garcia, technical director of COPABA, the regional governing body for the sport, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the protest had been denied.

"They submitted a protest that wasn't really a protest because they didn't submit it on time," Garcia said. "They should have made the protest before the game was over. There's no way we can go through a protest, whether there was a mistake or not."

Brazil protested Friday's 75-69 overtime loss to the United States in the semifinals of women's basketball at the Pan American Games. The Brazilian delegation filed the protest Saturday with the Dominican organizing committee, claiming the Americans were credited with one extra point at the end of the first period.

Bobby Beck, the vice president of Brazil's basketball federation, said that he appealed the denial of the protest and that that too was denied.

"They told us we should have signed the protest before the referee signed the statistics," Beck said. "It just so happened that the woman who does the statistics went away, and they gave it to us 40 minutes later with the signatures. We had looked for her. I was told it was an official mistake and they punished the people working. We will take this to FIBA (basketball's international governing body), and the (Brazilian) Olympic Committee will take this one.

"They should improve the people working."

Originally, soon after Friday night's defeat, Brazil's coach said there was no problem with the scoring and the team would not appeal.

Brazil's coaches approached the scoring table after the first quarter but were satisfied with the explanation.

"There was a mistake that was corrected," Brazil coach Antonio Carlos Barbosa said. "But we were keeping our own score and knew the U.S. team had one more point (than the scoreboard showed).

"Everything is fine. We are not filing any protest."

Their thinking changed several hours later.

While warming up for the bronze-medal game against Canada, the Brazilians walked off the court about seven minutes before tip-off, saying they were protesting their result against the Americans. The officials gave Brazil 25 minutes to decide whether to play. Brazil took more than the allotted time, so Canada left the court.

When Brazil returned, having decided to play after all, the referees had to retrieve the Canadians.

Canada's players decided to play the game even though Brazil earlier had expressed its intent to forfeit. Brazil won 57-46.

After the final buzzer, the Brazilians rushed to the middle of the court and gathered together for a team cheer and a hug. They all threw their arms into the air, then some waved to fans in the stands.

"I'm disappointed with yesterday and the people who worked the table," said 6-foot-3 center Alessandra Oliveira. "I'm not disappointed with the game today."

The Brazilians quickly got over their semifinal loss. After the medal ceremony, they eagerly rushed into the U.S. locker room to trade uniforms, shoes and other gear with the Americans.

Play-by-play sheets compiled by USA Basketball and media members showed the Americans had only 14 points after the first quarter Friday, not 15, as the official stats indicate.

Official scorers refused to reveal their play-by-play when the problem was pointed out to them.

In a posting on its Web site, the Brazilian Olympic Committee said its team should have won 62-61 in regulation.

Cuba defeated the United States 75-64 for the gold medal.