Hortência was a teen idol to many female basketball fans in the cities where she played, particularly at Prudentina where, during an interview with Jeremy Larner, she was stopped many times by autograph seekers on her way from her house to a game.

Hortência's first international experience came in 1976, when Brazil's women's national basketball team won the South American juvenile championship in Paraguay.

[3] In 1991, Hortência and the Brazilian women's national basketball team won the gold medal at that year's Pan American tournament held in Cuba.

In 1992, Hortência helped her team to a bronze medal at the Pre-Olympic competition held in Spain, returning later that year to that country to play in the Olympic Games for the first time.

Despite the fact her team did not qualify for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Hortência was featured on those games' official program, in an article named The Queen.