| FINAL STANDINGS 1. United States 2. China 3. Czech Republic 4. Lithuania 5. Russia 6. CANADA 7. Brazil 8. Netherlands 9. Yugoslavia 10. Sweden 11. Chinese Taipei 12. Mexico 13. Japan 14. Portugal 15. South Africa 16. Peru 17. Nigeria | CANADIANS Lindsay Anderson (Victoria, B.C./U of Victoria) Cymone Bouchard (Regina, Sask./U of Regina) Leighann Doan (Halkirk, Alta./ U of Calgary) Jennifer Goldade (Calgary, Alta./U of Calgary) Kim Johnson (Salmon Arm, B.C./U of Victoria) Jessica Kaczowka (Regina, Sask./Simon Fraser) Josee Lalonde (Chateauguay, Que./Laval) Jacquie Lavallee (Saskatoon, Sask./U of Saskatchewan) Janet McLachlan (West Vancouver, B.C./U of Victoria) Miruna Muller (Toronto, Ont./Ryerson) Susan Murray (Mississauga, Ont./Seton Hall) Erin Soroko (Winnipeg, Man./U of Winnipeg) Christine Stapleton – Coach Linda Marquis – Assistant |
| POOL A | CHN | CZE | TPE | PER | Record | |||
| China | —– | 91-65 | 119-65 | 128-37 | (3-0) | |||
| Czech Republic | 65-91 | —– | 107-69 | 105-55 | (2-1) | |||
| Chinese Taipei | 65-119 | 69-107 | —– | 89-66 | (1-2) | |||
| Peru | 37-128 | 55-105 | 66-89 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| POOL B | CAN | USA | JPN | RSA | Record | |||
| Canada | —– | 68-67 | 78-73 | 93-31 | (3-0) | |||
| United States | 67-68 | —– | 106-66 | 134-37 | (2-1) | |||
| Japan | 73-78 | 66-106 | —– | 93-31 | (1-2) | |||
| South Africa | 31-93 | 37-134 | 31-93 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| POOL C | RUS | HOL | SWE | MEX | Record | |||
| Russia | —– | 68-55 | 82-75 | 80-63 | (3-0) | |||
| Netherlands | 55-68 | —– | 73-70 | 68-59 | (2-1) | |||
| Sweden | 75-82 | 70-73 | —– | 65-55 | (1-2) | |||
| Mexico | 63-80 | 59-68 | 55-65 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| POOL D | LTU | BRA | POR | YUG | NGR | Record | ||
| Lithuania | —– | 93-78 | 41-68 | 70-65 | 100-29 | (3-1) | ||
| Brazil | 78-93 | —– | 65-61 | 58-53 | 100-35 | (3-1) | ||
| Portugal | 61-48 | 61-65 | —– | 51-62 | 2-0 | (2-2) | ||
| Yugoslavia | 65-70 | 53-58 | 62-51 | —– | 89-26 | (2-2) | ||
| Nigeria | 29-100 | 35-100 | 0-2 | 26-89 | —– | (0-4) | ||
| MEDALS E | CZE | CAN | LTU | NED | Record | |||
| Czech Republic | —– | 70-68 | 91-68 | 85-42 | (3-0) | |||
| Lithuania | 68-91 | 55-47 | —– | 60-33 | (2-1) | |||
| Canada | 68-70 | —– | 47-55 | 76-61 | (1-2) | |||
| Netherlands | 42-85 | 61-76 | 33-60 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| POOL F | USA | CHN | RUS | BRA | Record | |||
| United States | —– | 89-78 | 79-68 | 82-62 | (3-0) | |||
| China | 78-89 | —– | 82-54 | 93-54 | (2-1) | |||
| Russia | 68-79 | 54-82 | —– | 75-60 | (1-2) | |||
| Brazil | 62-82 | 54-93 | 60-75 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| CONSOLATION G | SWE | TPE | POR | RSA | Record | |||
| Sweden | —– | 75-73 | 76-54 | 100-32 | (3-0) | |||
| Chinese Taipei | 73-75 | —– | 67-62 | 86-57 | (2-1) | |||
| Portugal | 54-76 | 62-67 | —– | 70-51 | (1-2) | |||
| South Africa | 32-100 | 57-86 | 51-70 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| CONSOLATION H | JPN | MEX | YUG | PER | Record | |||
| Yugoslavia | 80-68 | 73-78 | —– | 99-48 | (2-1) | |||
| Mexico | 74-76 | —– | 78-73 | 79-62 | (2-1) | |||
| Japan | —– | 76-74 | 68-80 | 101-44 | (2-1) | |||
| Peru | 44-101 | 62-79 | 48-99 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| 13-16th | Portugal 64 Peru 39 | |
| 13-16th | Japan 94 South Africa 35 | |
| 9-12th | Sweden 85 Mexico 62 | |
| 9-12th | Yugoslavia 86 Chinese Taipei 67 | |
| 5-8th | Canada 80 Brazil 78 | |
| 5-8th | Russia 73 Netherlands 62 | |
| Semi | United States 70 Lithuania 49 | |
| Semi | China 95 Czech Republic 75 | |
| 17th | Nigeria (by default) | |
| 15th | South Africa 53 Peru 52 | |
| 13th | Japan 82 Portugal 73 | |
| 11th | Chinese Taipei 80 Mexico 75 | |
| 9th | Yugoslavia d’d Sweden | |
| 7th | Brazil 64 Netherlands 52 | |
| 5th | Russia 77 Canada 68 | |
| Bronze | Czech Republic 91 Lithuania 71 | |
| Final | United States 87 China 69 | |
Canada opened with a 78-73 win over Japan. They led 41-39 at the break but quickly fell behind by eight in the third quarter as Japan came out strong. But Cymone Bouchard entered the game to ignite the Canadian offence. “Our team showed a lot of character today,” said head coach Christine Stapleton. “We showed great patience in the second half when Japan made their run. Everyone on our team contributed and we felt the energy from the get go. It was great way to begin the tournament and it was a good win for Canada.” Leighann Doan led Canada with 19 points and 11 boards. Erin Soroko added 18, Cymone Bouchard 11, Lindsay Anderson 9, Jessica Kaczowka 4, Jacquie Lavallee 4, Janet McLachlan 4, Miruna Muller 3, Jennifer Goldade 2, Susan Murray 2 and Kim Johnson 2. Canada shot 24-52 from the field, 6-16 from the arc and 24-26 from the line while being out-rebounded 21-18. Yuko Aizawa led Japan with 21. M. Funabiki added 16. Japan shot 26-66 from the floor, 13-28 from the arc and 8-10 from the line.
Canada then defeated the United States 68-67 as Erin Soroko scored the Winnipeg bucket on a layup with one minute to go. It was Canada’s only lead of the second half. The USA took an early lead but Canada hit two consecutive treys to take a 16-15 lead. The teams traded the lead in the second quarter before the US pulled ahead 33-32 at the half. The Americans opened the second half with a 7-0 run before Canada answered with six points to tie the game at 48 with two minutes to play in the third quarter. With a minute to play in the game, Soroko stole the ball in the front court and raced for a layup to give Canada the one-point lead. The Canadians missed three free throws and had a lane violation to give the US ample opportunity to pull out the win. But with 3.3 seconds to go, the Americans final shot missed and Canada took the win. “I was so focused that I had no idea what the score was or how much time was left,” said Soroko. Cymone Bouchard led Canada with 14 points. Leighann Doan added 12 and 8 boards. Soroko added 11, Kim Johnson 10 and Lindsay Anderson 8. “I’m very proud of this team and we just set a standard today,” said coach Christine Stapleton. “Now people will be looking at Canada as a team to beat. It was a grueling, energy-draining game. It was so tense but we showed tremendous focus and fought hard for rebounds to the last second.”
Canada then pummeled South Africa 93-31, exploding to a commanding 52-15 lead and coasting, scoring easily in transition, as well as one the penetration dribble. Leighann Doan led Canada with 17 points. Miruna Muller added 15 while Erin Soroko scored 14 and Cymone Bouchard 10.
Canada finished (3-0) in pool play, and advanced to the winner’s side medals pools.
In a 76-61 win over Netherlands, Leighann Doan scored 22 and grabbed 8 boards. Erin Soroko added 17 points including three from beyond the arc. Canada led 38-32 at the half and never trailed, leading by as many as 22 in the second half. Canada dominated the boards by a 35-21 margin and had a 12-4 edge in steals. “It feels pretty awesome (winning four straight games after losing five exhibition games in training competition) to change that completely around,” said Doan. “We needed to start believing in ourselves and with a record of 4-0 we can do that and start having confidence that we can put together a win. I think that will carry us a long way.” Soroko added that “our defence was really strong and put a lot of pressure on them right away. I thought that they were really intimidated by us at first and that just carried over. This winning streak says a lot about our team because we didn’t get down and we learned from each win. We haven’t peaked yet and I think we’re waiting for the gold-medal game.”
Canada then dropped a 70-68 decision to the Czech Republic on a buzzer beater. With seven seconds left in regulation time, Leighann Doan came up with the ball in a mad scramble under the Czech bucket for a loose ball. But she was called for traveling and the Czechs got the ball. Petra Prochaskova scored the winning layup at the buzzer. Canada led 33-31 at the half and had a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. But they committed 26 turnovers, including 17 in the second half. “We just turned the ball over too much in the fourth quarter against their half-court press,” said coach Christine Stapleton. “The stat that stood out for me was our 26 turnovers to their 16. …We were playing ‘not to lose’ as opposed to just continuing to fight, attack and playing to win. We got outscored 23-14 and that to me is the story of the game. We have to be mentally tougher tomorrow. I thought we had some breakdowns in the last four minutes.” Erin Soroko led Canada with 16 points. Doan added 14. Lindsay Anderson and Jessica Kaczowka each scored 10.
Canada fell from medal contention by dropping a 55-47 decision to Lithuania. Canada led early 7-4 but promptly fell behind as they struggled with their perimeter shooting. Lithuania led 29-23 at the half. Shooting eight per cent from the arc and struggling with the Lithuanian’s height, Canada had difficulty putting points on the board in the second half. Only Leighann Doan scored in double figures for the Canadians, tallying 17 points and 13 boards. “They got up on us early and we lost a bit of confidence,” said Doan. “I don’t know if it was bit of looking past them, maybe to the next round. But you’ve got to fight through that. We just came out with less energy than we needed tonight.” Head coach Christine Stapleton added that “we didn’t shoot the ball well today at all. WE missed a couple of shots early in the first quarter and the rim got small and smaller. And as that happened the girls got tighter and tighter. We didn’t score enough points to win a game at this level.”
In the 5-8th consolations, Canada defeated Brazil 80-78 in overtime. Brazil held the lead for the entire first half before Josee Lalonde began to score in the paint and took an offensive charge to ignite the Canadians. Kim Johnson nailed a three to close the gap to four with seven minutes to play before the athletic Brazilians rallied back to take a 36-26 lead the break. Canada came out attacking in the second half. They cut the margin to seven with five minutes to play in the third quarter and the momentum began to shift. The defence forced two straight shot clock violations. Then Jacquie Lavallee hit a three to bring Canada to within 43-39. Brazil led by a single point 50-49 after three quarters. Canada grabbed the lead for the first time with five minutes to play in regulation when Lavallee hit a bucket from the top of the key. Brazil hit a bucket with eight seconds to play to force overtime. Cymone Bouchard opened the overtime with a three and Canada maintained its margin by hitting its free throws. Bouchard notched the winning points with a pair of free throws in the final seconds. “It was easy money,” said Bouchard. “I went up there and thought: ‘hey, no problem. I know they (Brazilian bench players) were going to scream at me but I’m going to take two right here.” Jessica Kaczowska said it was tough to get motivated after the loss to Lithuania. “We tried to get pumped up. …We had to regroup today.” Erin Soroko led Canada with 23 points and 8 boards. Bouchard added 12, while Leighann Doan scored 11 and grabbed 11 boards. Jessica Kaczowka scored 10. Canada committed only 10 turnovers during the affair.
Canada then dropped a 77-68 decision to Russia to finish in 6th place. The Russians jumped out quickly and took a 10-point lead within five minutes. Russia led 30-14 after one quarter. Canada picked up its defence in the second quarter, holding Russia to 10 points. But they continued to have difficulty scoring. Canada started the second half quickly but then experienced a three-minute drought. With five minutes to play, Miruna Muller and Lindsay Anderson each hit a three to narrow the gap to seven. But the Russians withstood a final Canadian rally. “We are very proud of the character that this team had throughout the tournament,” said coach Christine Stapleton. “We accomplished some great things and these athletes showed how proud they were to be wearing Canada on their jerseys.”