| FINAL STANDINGS POOL C 1. Canada 1. Japan 1. Bosnia & Hercegovina 4. Belarus | CANADIANS Natalie Achonwa – Guelph, Ont. Kayla Alexander, Milton, Ont. Laeticia Amihere – Mississauga, Ont. Cassandra Brown – Vernon, B.C. Bridget Carleton – Chatham, Ont. Shay Colley – Brampton, Ont. Quinn Dornstauder – Regina, Sask. Nirra Fields – Montreal, Que. Aislinn Konig – Langley, B.C. Michelle Plouffe – Edmonton, Alta. Merissah Russell – Ottawa, Ont. Jamie Scott – Pasco, Wash. Victor Lapena – coach Steve Baur – assistant Noelle Quinn – assistant |
| POOL A | SER | AUS | KOR | BRZ | Record | ||
| Serbia | —– | 78-71 | 65-62 | 76-70 | (3-0) | ||
| Australia | 71-78 | —– | 79-61 | 65-62 | (2-1) | ||
| Korea | 62-65 | 61-79 | —– | 76-74 | (1-2) | ||
| Brazil | 70-76 | 62-65 | 74-76 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL B | CHN | NIG | FRA | MLI | Record | ||
| China | —– | 90-76 | 103-70 | 84-64 | (3-0) | ||
| Nigeria | 76-90 | —– | 67-65 | 73-69 | (2-1) | ||
| France | 70-103 | 65-67 | —– | 77-66 | (1-2) | ||
| Mali | 64-84 | 69-73 | 66-77 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL C | CAN | JPN | BIH | BEL | Record | ||
| Canada | —– | 79-86 | 96-64 | 2-0 | (2-1) | ||
| Japan | 86-79 | —– | 82-87 | 2-0 | (2-1) | ||
| Bosnia-Hercegovina | 64-96 | 87-82 | —– | 2-0 | (2-1) | ||
| Belarus | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL D | USA | BLG | RUS | PUR | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 84-75 | 2-2 | 93-55 | (2-0-1) | ||
| Belgium | 75-84 | —– | 66-43 | 98-65 | (2-1) | ||
| Russia | 2-2 | 43-66 | —– | 102-68 | (1-1-1) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 55-93 | 65-98 | 68-102 | —– | (0-3) |
Top three finishes in each pool qualify for the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
A week before the start of pool C play (held in Osaka, Japan), Belarus withdrew because their team had been hit with a covid-19 outbreak. The withdrawal guaranteed Canada, Japan and Bosnia & Hercegovina advance to the World Cup.
In their opener, Canada fell 86-79 to Japan in overtime after squandering a 20-point third-quarter lead.
Canada led 17-15, 40-23 and 54-46 at the quarters. The score was knotted at 73 after regulation when Himawari Akaho notched a layup at the buzzer. Coach Victor LaPena said “first of all, congratulations to Japan. They believed in the victory to the end. I’m proud of my team because with three or four days together we haven’t come to practice to have the shape we needed in the last minutes, but we were fighting. Now I have more information for the future about my team, about my players and how I can help them to manage these moments.” Kayla Alexander said “Japan is a very good team. I felt like we were in it at the beginning of the game, we understood the game plan and then just towards the end, down the stretch, we couldn’t get some stops, couldn’t get some shots to fall, but we played really hard. We played really well and Japan played a great game.” LaPena said “I was super happy with the first 20, 23 minutes, we did a great job. We understand the game, we read [the game] perfectly, what the game needed to be on the court.” Stephanie Mawuli paced Japan with 18 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Himawari Akaho added 15 on 4-7 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 boards. Ramu Tokashiki notched 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 8 boards and 5 assists. Mai Yamamoto scored 12 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 5 assists. Naho Miyoshi added 8 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 3 boards. Saori Miyazaki notched 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 assists. Maki Takada added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Saki Hayashi scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Nako Motohashi added 2 on 1-3 from the floor and 2 assists. Monica Okoye scored 1 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 2 assists, while Rika Tanimura and Kaede Kondo did not play. Japan (coached by Toru Onzuka, assistant by Yoshikazu Suzuki and Tsuneo Ueno) hit 32-70 (.457) overall, 24-50 (.480) from the floor, 8-20 (.400) from the arc and 14-19 (.737) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 22 fouls, 17 turnovers, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Nirra Fields paced Canada with 19 on 8-19 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Bridget Carleton added 12 on 0-4 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 2 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Kayla Alexander notched 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 8 boards and 2 steals. Natalie Achonwa scored 11 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-7 from the line and 10 boards. Shay Colley added 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 assists. Aislinn Konig notched 6 on 2-4 from the arc. Laeticia Amihere scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Merissah Russell added 2 on 1-2 from the floor. Jamie Scott added 2 on 0-1 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Michelle Plouffe added 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 8 boards and 3 assists, while Quinn Dornstauder and Cassandra Brown did not play. Canada hit 28-73 (.384) overall, 22-57 (.386) from the floor, 6-16 (.375) from the arc and 17-21 (.810) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 23 fouls, 18 turnovers, 12 steals and 3 blocks.
Canada closed out its draw by dusting Bosnia & Hercegovinga 96-64 after leading 30-19, 57-36 and 96-64 at the quarters. Bridget Carleton, who notched 28, said “we came here and did what our goal was. Our goal was to qualify. Obviously, having not a lot of time together, not a lot of time with two new coaches, we’re really proud of this effort today. To win in the fashion we did and to play as a team gives us confidence going forward and going into the summer. … Coach challenged me yesterday before practice to keep looking for my shot and be more aggressive. To keep putting myself out there to take tough shots and be more assertive on the offensive end especially. That was my mindset coming into the game. Once the first couple of shots start going down you start to feel good and you’re willing to take some tougher shots that I don’t normally take. I always want to create the best shot for the team and sometimes the shot is falling for me and it was today.” Canadian coach Victor Lapena said shot. “With her (Carleton’s) level, the defence of our rival has to be super ready. If it’s just one on one [defence], with her level, usually it’s two or three points. I’m very, very happy because her answer on the court was amazing.” Lapena added that Natalie Achonwa was stellar. “Natalie has a high basketball knowledge, in offence and in defence,” LaPeña said. “It’s like a point guard on the court. I tried to use Natalie as a point guard. Not to push the ball, but to have the ball in her hands to make decisions. On defence she knows perfectly what I want from her. [With] Nat I was talking about some things that can help her on the court and how she has to help the rest of her teammates on offence. On offence she has to help the rest of the teammates, and on defence I have to help her. It’s like an orchestra. … When we prepare our game we are thinking about the strengths of the rival to try to stop them, especially on this team, Jonquel Jones. I think the players did a great job about it. Jonquel Jones is a superstar. One of the top five [players] in the world, but today my players, especially Kayla Alexander, Laeticia Amihere, tried to make her tired.” Bridget Carleton paced Canada with 28 on 5-5 from the floor, 6-7 from the arc, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Natalie Achonwa added 23 on 8-10 from the floor, 5-8 from the arc, 8 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Kayla Alexander notched 14 on 5-8 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 7 boards and 4 assists. Shay Colley scored 11 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5 assists and 2 steals. Laeticia Amihere added 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 steals. Merissah Russell scored 5 on 0-1 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Nirra Fields notched 4 on 2-2 from the floor, 7 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Michelle Plouffe added 4 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Aislinn Konig scored 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 4 boards, while Jamie Scott, Quinn Dornstauder and Cassandra Brown were scoreless. Dornstauder nabbed 2 boards. Canada hit 36-60 (.600) overall, 28-41 (.683) from the floor, 8-19 from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 30 assists, 16 fouls, 16 turnovers, 13 steals and 3 blocks. Nikolina Babic paced Bosnia & Hercegovina with 16 on 5-6 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 3-4 from the line. Jonquel Jones added 15 on 3-11 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Nikolina Dzebo notched 9 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6 boards and 5 assists. Miljana Dzombeta scored 8 on 4-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4 assists and 2 steals. Milica Deura added 7 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Andjela Delic scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor and 2 assists. Nikolina Delic added 3 on 0-1 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Matea Tavic scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 3 assists, while Dragana Domunzin, Sarah Heljic and Hanna Halilovic were scoreless. Domuzin dished 2 assists. Heljic nabbed 2 boards. Marica Gajic did not play. Bosnia & Hercegovina (coached by Goran Lojo, assisted by Armin Secerovic) hit 25-63 (.397) overall, 19-44 (.432) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 8-11 (.727) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 16 fouls, 18 turnovers and 7 steals.