| FINAL STANDINGS: 1. CANADA 2. Cuba 3. Argentina 4. Brazil 5. Venezuela 6. Puerto Rico 7. Chile Ecuador Dominican Republic Virgin Islands | CANADIANS Natalie Achonwa (Toronto, Ont.) Miranda Ayim (Chatham, Ont.) Nirra Fields (Lachine, Que.) Kim Gaucher (Surrey, B.C.) Miah-Marie Langlois (Windsor, Ont.) Lizanne Murphy (Montreal, Que.) Kia Nurse (Hamilton, Ont.) Katherine Plouffe (Edmonton, Alta.) Michelle Plouffe (Edmonton, Alta.) Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Toronto, Ont.) Tamara Tatham (East York, Ont.) Shona Thorburn (Oxford, Ont.) Lisa Thomaidis – coach Shawnee Harle – assistant Bev Smith – assistant Steve Baur – assistant Dipesh Mistry – performance analyst Joan Mlynarczyk – head therapist Marcel Charland – massage therapist Chris Dal Cin – basketball scientist Dr. Sarah Kim – physician Dr. Marni Wesner – physician Peter Jensen – sports psychologist Susan Cockle – sports psychologist Anne Marie Thuss – manager Elaine Sun – manager Mikaela Berza – manager |
| POOL A | CAN | CUB | PUR | CHI | DOM | Record | |||
| Canada | —– | 92-43 | 94-57 | 93-36 | 111-36 | (4-0) | |||
| Cuba | 43-92 | —– | 65-58 | 88-61 | 83-44 | (3-1) | |||
| Puerto Rico | 57-94 | 58-65 | —– | 92-66 | 64-56 | (2-2) | |||
| Chile | 36-93 | 61-88 | 66-92 | —– | 88-56 | (1-3) | |||
| Dominican Republic | 36-111 | 44-83 | 56-64 | 56-88 | —– | (0-4) | |||
| POOL B | ARG | BRZ | VEN | ECU | VGI | Record | |||
| Argentina | —– | 73-69 | 71-55 | 70-35 | 75-51 | (4-0) | |||
| Brazil | 69-73 | —– | 86-71 | 76-45 | 72-58 | (3-1) | |||
| Venezuela | 55-71 | 71-86 | —– | 55-48 | 69-62 | (2-2) | |||
| Ecuador | 35-70 | 48-55 | 45-76 | —– | 72-48 | (1-3) | |||
| Virgin Islands | 51-75 | 58-72 | 62-69 | 48-72 | —– | (0-4) | |||
| Semi | Canada 83 Brazil 66 | |
| Semi | Cuba 89 Argentina 79 | |
| 5th | Venezuela 65 Puerto Rico 56 | |
| Bronze | Argentina 66 Brazil 59 | |
| Final | Canada 82 Cuba 66 | |
In their opener, Canada clocked Puerto Rico 94-57. Canada made eight of 10 treys as they built a 56-29 halftime lead after being ahead 30-22 after a quarter. They led 79-41 after three quarters. “It was a strong start offensively for us,” Canadian coach Lisa Thomaidis told Canadian Press. “We got a bit sloppy in the second half and the turnovers mounted, but that tends to happen when you get some separation on the board. Overall it was a good first game for us.” Guard Kim Gaucher told the Toronto Star that “I think you saw that in the second quarter, there aren’t a lot of teams in this tournament that can match our depth, we can keep running people at other teams.” Gaucher told Canadian Press that “you want to come out and set the tone and I think we did that, offensively,” she said. “We just need to do it better defensively as well. We need to work on having a more consistent 40-minute effort, but it was a good start, for sure.” Depth proved a major difference. “Pan Ams was five games in five days and this tournament we’re playing potentially six in eight days, depth is a major factor,” Thomaidis told the Toronto Star. “We want to manage minutes and keeping people fresh over the tournament is a massive advantage. We’ve been pretty much doing it over the last year or two so I think they know they have to give it everything they have for 3 ½ or four minutes until we get our subs in.” Thomaidis told the Edmonton Sun that spreading the minutes is “kind of how we roll. That’s been our substitution pattern for probably the last two years. We have a lot of depth and a lot of talent and we want to be able to get lots of people in. To be able to have tremendous depth is such a great advantage in this tournament just because potentiality six games in eight days is a tough one to manage and it’s the team that’s going to be fresh in the end that’s going to be successful, so we’re really cognizant of that. We’ve got a lot of people who can contribute so we want to give them that opportunity.” Lizanne Murphy told the Sun that Thomaidis “said to Kim and I when you catch it, put it up. We shoot (lots) of threes every day for that chance. Everyone has their job and that’s kind of our job to get in there and hit shots, so I’m glad the Splash Sisters were on tonight.” Gaucher added that “we got everyone involved tonight, which was great, I think you really saw our depth. Obviously, there’s still a lot of things we can work on, we got a little bit sloppy, so we’re going to refocus and get ready for tomorrow. It was nice to get out and get that first win under our belt in front of an amazing crowd tonight in Edmonton.” Thomaidis told the Edmonton Journal that “we have a lot of depth. We don’t lose anything when we sub; it’s just a matter of some differing skill sets and some different combos. I like to roll people through pretty quickly. … It was a real good game for us to get accustomed to chasing people off screens and having to keep players in front of us. That’s what we’re going to see a lot of over the course of the tournament.” Natalie Achonwa added that “we’ve been training for the last couple of years for this moment. So, it’s a great relief to get that one under our belt.” Kim Gaucher paced Canada with 11 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Lizanne Murphy added 11 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 4 boards. Miah-Marie Langlois added 11 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 8 boards and 2 assists. Kia Nurse added 10 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 3-5 from the line. Shona Thorburn added 7 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 6 boards and 4 assists. Miranda Ayim added 7 on 2-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Nirra Fields added 7 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Michelle Plouffe notched 7 on 2-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-6 from the line and 2 boards. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe added 6 on 1-6 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 3 boards. Natalie Achonwa added 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Tamara Tatham added 6 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Katharine Plouffe added 5 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Canada hit 19-43 (.440) from the floor, 12-19 (.630) from the arc and 20-29 (.690) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 12 fouls, 15 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Marie Placido Morales paced Puerto Rico with 12 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 boards. Damika Jenise Martinez added 10 on 2-4 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Jazmine Sepulveda added 9, Allison Kimberly Gibson 6, along with 3 boards, Yashira Delgado 2, Angelica Bermudez 2, Tayra Melendez 2 and Sandra Garcia 2, while Natalie Diaz Hassan, Sofia Roma and Yoy Ling Del Rosario Vargas were scoreless. Puerto Rico hit 16-45 (.360) from the floor, 6-14 (.430) from the arc and 7-11 (.640) from the line, while garnering 21 boards, including 2 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 22 fouls, 10 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block.
Canada improved to (2-0) in pool play by clubbing Chile 93-36 by breaking their foes down with crisp ball movement. “We really talk a lot about sharing the ball and shooting when we have the advantage, penetrating when we can create an advantage,” coach Lisa Thomaidis told the Toronto Star. “But when we just freeze the ball and have to try to break down off the dribble, we’re not nearly as good.” With that ball movement, Miranda Ayim and Natalie Achonwa repeatedly got easy inside looks off Canada’s half-court offence and were simply too much for Chile in transition. “Honestly? Lisa drills it into us. Five-on-nothing? We get drilled,” Shona Thorburn said of the ball movement. But she lamented turnovers. “I don’t want to say we got too fancy because we’re not that kind of team, we became more passive maybe and that’s not our style, that’s not what got us this far. I thought we re-grouped and got it together in the second half. It’s going to be a few possessions and then we huddle up and say, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ Let’s slow it down and actually run something. And we did that.” Canada led 44-20 at the half but Thomas wasn’t pleased. “I thought we played way too loose with the ball, we weren’t finishing around the rim,” she told the Edmonton Journal. “We had, I think, 13 turnovers at the half. It just wasn’t Canadian style of basketball. I thought we really lacked some discipline, but got back to that in the second half and played a lot better that way, got a lot of assists and displayed some really team sharing of the basketball.” Thorburn said “we had a few too many turnovers in the first half. But I thought we regrouped and, defensively, we were great tonight. But, offensively, there were a few times we had consecutive turnovers and we have to limit those because when we play Cuba, Brazil and Argentina, that could be a six-point turnaround.” Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe said “Lisa really wanted us to practice our offence to prepare for the games in the future that might be a bit tougher than tonight. I think we really executed and ran them through our offence. By the end of the game, they couldn’t keep up with us. They couldn’t handle our size, their post player (Morrison) was out with an injury on the first play, I think, and they were really flustered and frustrated by us.” Thomaidis told Canadian Press that “it is about trying to get better each game. We did a better job of that in the second half. We were careless with the ball in the first half.” Natalie Achonwa told CP that “there are still some things that we need to take care of. Especially in the first half, we had a lot of turnovers and were pretty loose with the ball. It is about focus. When you are up by 30 it can be easy to just want to have fun, but we have to use games like this to focus on the details and get better.” Canada led 27-10 after one quarter and 66-26 after three quarters. Thomaidis told CP that the team needed to play unselfishly. “The players have really bought into that. They are not focused on who scores but the fact that we score. It is all about finding the open player. People who can create open shots for others are giving the ball up and that is tremendous to see. That is going to be key for us continuing to be successful.” Kia Nurse paced Canada with 14 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Natalie Achonwa added 14 on 6-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 3 steals. Tamara Tatham notched 14 on 4-8 from the floor, 6-7 from the line and 2 boards. Michelle Plouffe scored 12 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 steals. Nirra Fields added 11 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 7-9 from the line and 2 boards. Miranda Ayim added 8 on 4-5 from the floor and 7 boards. Lizanne Murphy added 7 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Shona Thorburn added 6 on 0-1 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 6 assists. Kim Gaucher added 5 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 assists. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe added 2 on 1-3 from the floor and 3 boards, while Miah-Marie Langlois and Katherine Plouffe were scoreless. Langlois nabbed 4 boards and dished 10 assists. Plouffe nabbed 8 boards. Canada hit 24-54 (.440) from the floor, 8-19 (.420) from the arc and 21-24 (.880) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 31 assists, 16 fouls, 20 turnovers, 11 steals and 5 blocks. Catalina Abuyeres Abarca paced Chile with 11 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Sendy Basaez Narvaez added 9, along with 2 steals, Vanessa Leeper Chacon 6, along with 2 boards, Barbara Cousino Contreras 4, Jenifer Fuentes Carrasco 3, along with 5 boards, and Angella Angotzi Yanez 3, while Thiare Garcia Gutierrez, Dafne Bermudez Oyarzo, Ziomara Morrison Jara, Francisca Rojas Solis, Marisol Gamboa Lastra and Milena Koljanin Matta were scoreless. Chile hit 10-36 (.280) from the floor, 2-15 (.130) from the arc and 10-12 (.830) from the line, while garnering 19 boards, including 3 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 19 fouls, 24 turnovers, 8 steals and 1 block.
Canada improved to (3-0) in pool play by stomping the Dominican Republic 111-36 after leading 23-7, 58-19 and 85-27 at the quarters. “We have a lot of offensive weapons and that was showcased tonight,” Canadian coach Lisa Thomaidis told Canadian Press. “We talked a lot about taking high-quality shots and a big part of what we have tried to focus on this year is trying to push the pace and play faster.” Canada’s depth overwhelmed the Dominicans. “One of the big things when we huddle right before the game starts, with the second line, is we want to make sure we’re bringing energy,” Natalie Achonwa told the Toronto Star. “And that when the first line needs to come off and get a breath (that) we’re keeping that tempo and that pace and make sure there’s no drop-off between the first line and the second line.” Thomaidis told the Star that Achonwa “talks about coming off the bench as the second line or whatever; we have no second line. All 12 players are part of the first line . . . pick and choose who you want to start out there. It just so happens that we’ve gone with this rotation up until now but to have a WNBA player coming off the bench for you and to relish that role and take pride in it and have it be no big deal speaks a lot to her character. … That’s kind of how we roll and it’s been amazing to watch and see how they’ve bonded that way. We don’t play too differently depending who’s out there, different people bring different things but the core principles are there regardless of who’s on the floor.” Miranda Ayim paced Canada with 15 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Nirra Fields added 13 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Natalie Achonwa added 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 4 boards. Kia Nurse added 11 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Kim Gaucher added 11 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Lizanne Murphy notched 11 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 4 boards and 6 assists. Miah-Marie Langlois scored 9 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5 boards and 7 assists. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe added 7 on 2-3 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Shona Thorburn scored 6 on 2-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 7 assists. Tamara Tatham added 6 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Katherine Plouffe added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Michelle Plouffe added 5 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Canada hit 31-56 (.550) from the floor, 12-24 from the line and 13-16 (.810) from the line, while garnering 53 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 37 assists, 7 fouls, 12 turnovers, 8 steals and 4 blocks. Genesis Evangelista Martinez paced the Dominican Republic with 15 on 4-18 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 2 boards. Sugeiry Monsac Sierra added 7, along with 5 boards and 3 assists, Andreina Paniagua Cuevas 5, along with 2 boards, Yamel Abreu Alvarez 4, along with 2 boards and 2 steals, Jennifer Estrella Diaz 3, along with 2 boards, and Julady Zapata Zapata 2, along with 2 boards, while Yohamma Morton Gautreaux, Viviana Beltre Paredes, Marian Soto Nunez, Gisell Peguero and Cheisy Hernandez were scoreless. The Dominican Republic hit 11-43 (.260) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 5-6 (.830) from the line, while garnering 20 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 20 fouls, 19 turnovers, 5 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada closed out pool play at (4-0) by dusting Cuba 92-43. Canada used its superior speed and quickness at every position to dominate the Cubans. “That was a great performance by us tonight but the first thing we said was we haven’t done anything yet,” guard Kim Gaucher told the Toronto Star. “That game doesn’t mean a whole lot. In 2013 (at the same qualification event) we beat (Cuba) handily in round-robin play and they came out and kicked our butt in the final. We know they have another level, it was a great win tonight, a good performance but we have two more games to go.” Posts Miranda Ayim and Natalie Achonwa repeatedly beat the Cubans downcourt in transition. “You look at how our team is built and it’s built around athleticism. … Look at our bigs and what they can do and how they can run the floor,” said Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis. “They’re some of the fittest members of our team and that definitely comes into play, especially at a tournament like this where you face potentially six games in eight days.” But the win came at a cost to Canada, as guard Shona Thorburn injured her ankle in the opening quarter. “Sometimes you need to look ahead if things are going the way you want them to and I think Cuba’s very adept at that,” said Thomaidis. “They know how to play that game and we can’t kid ourselves. That was not Cuba’s best performance and not indicative of how strong that team really is. We are all very aware of how these tournaments work. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose by two or 25, you move on.” Miranda Ayim told Canadian Press that “it felt great to be able to do that in front of our home crowd, with it sold out. The points on the scoreboard sometimes say something different than it feels on the court. We just wanted to play our best game and show our next opponent what is coming for them.” Canada led 9-2 early, 21-13 after one quarter, 41-29 at the half and 63-30 after three quarters. Kim Gaucher told Sportsnet.ca that “it’s so much fun. We go through two-a-days all summer long and we’ve been dreaming of playing in our home country, everyone is just jumping at the chance to get out on the court and show what we’re capable of.” Ayim added that “coming into a tournament like this, we want to peak at the right time and that’s exactly what we’re doing. At the Pan Ams we got better each game and that’s what we’re doing here. The confidence that we’re bringing into this tournament is showing and all the hard work that we’ve put in the past three years, not just this summer, is finally coming to fruition.” Nurse gave the sold-out crowd of 2,600 a brief scare when she landed heavily on her back and head after being undercut on a fast break late in the third quarter, but she bounced up to finish the three-point play. “The [hair] bun always saves me,” she told Sportsnet. Ayim told the Edmonton Sun that “coming into the game it was a point of emphasis to start hard, so our entire team was ready from the jump, especially defensively, getting them on their heels and taking it at them. Instead of waiting to see what happens, we wanted to be the enforcers of the game. Nurse told the Edmonton Journal of Thorburn’s injury that “obviously, you don’t want to see a teammate go down. It’s always upsetting. A teammate like (Shona), who’s a great veteran and someone who’s so much fun to play with, it’s just an upsetting feeling.” Thomaidis said “losing her tonight, we lost another coach on the bench. You look down the bench and she was up there talking to the players who were waiting to go in, giving direction. She sees layers. From a point guard perspective, it’s invaluable. … It certainly shortens up the rotation. But we can’t worry too much about that now.” Kia Nurse paced Canada with 14 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Miranda Ayim added 12 on 6-10 from the floor, 7 boards and 2 steals. Natalie Achonwa added 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Kim Gaucher added 11 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Tamara Tatham added 11 on 4-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Katherine Plouffe added 8 on 4-6 from the floor and 4 boards. Miah-Marie Langlois added 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe added 7 on 2-2 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Nirra Fields added 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Lizanne Murphy notched 3 on 1-2 from the arc and 5 boards. Shona Thorburn scored 2 and Michell Plouffe 2 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Canada hit 33-55 (.600) from the floor, 3-11 (.270) from the arc and 17-20 (.850) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 12 fouls, 11 turnovers and 10 steals. Anisleidy Galindo Martinez paced Cuba with 12 on 5-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Oyanaisy Gelis Gonzalez added 11 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Ineidis Casanova Gonzalez added 8, along with 5 boards and 2 assists, Yamara Amargo Delgado 5, along with 3 boards and 3 steals, Leidys Oquendo Valdes 3, along with 5 boards, Clenia Noblet Salazar 2, along with 5 boards, Zuleira Aties Isaac 2, while Fransy Ochoa Izquierdo, Arlenys Romero Moinelo, Arlety Povea Chacon, Marlen Cepeda Valle and Suchitel Avila Cosanas were scoreless. Cuba hit 15-55 (.270) overall, 2-11 (.180) from the arc and 7-14 from the floor, while garnering 32 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 19 fouls, 15 turnovers and 4 steals.
In the semis, Canada clipped Brazil 83-66. “It feels amazing to get to the final,” said Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe. “It’s my first international tournament with the senior team. To be in this position is amazing. It’s a great feeling.” Coach Lisa Thomaidis said “Brazil really challenged us and had a good game plan against us. We needed to play very well to beat them today. That was a great game for us to have to win to get through to the final. “It was great for us to be tested in a close game and have to adjust our tactics.” Canada led 27-22 after one quarter and 45-39 at the half. Canada got a boost when Brazilian coach Luiz Zanon was tossed for objecting to the officiating in the third quarter, after which Canada led 70-55. Raincock-Ekunwe got just 3:02 of playing time in the first half and only 16:12 overall, but she was key in helping Canada open up a double-digit lead in the third quarter. Thomaidis told the Edmonton Journal her effort was “huge in terms of the identity of this team. A few players have gotten a lot of attention but really, we feel like we have 12 first-line players and on any given night different people can step up. I think that was evident. Nayo … got her opportunity and wanted to seize the day. It says a lot about our depth and we’ll have different people step up on different occasions.” Kim Gaucher added that “I remember Nayo coming into training camp three or four years and, I mean, she couldn’t run our offence at all. She just looked lost out there. You look at her (against Brazil), confident and aggressive. She’s one of the prettiest basketball players to watch. Her game is so smooth, she doesn’t even realize it.” Gaucher told Sportsnet.ca that Raincock-Ekunwe “is such an exceptional athlete, sometimes when I watch her, I’m amazed at some of the rebounds she can get. But that’s what you have with our team. Any single one of our 12 players can go off for that on any given night and that’s why I think we’re such a dangerous team in our tournament because you can’t guard one or two of us, we’ve got 12.” Raincock-Ekunwe told the Journal “the coaches pushed me and motivated me and told me to attack. And they knew I could do it. Having them believe in me really pushed me to attack.” Thomaidis told the Journal that it was good for troops “to be tested, it was great for us to be in a close game, excellent for us to have to adjust our tactics based on what Brazil was presenting us.” Kia Nurse, though, noted that “close games are great, but we like blowing people out though. We still play good basketball when we do that, but to come through the way we did was good.” Thomaidis told the Toronto Star that “it’s no surprise that we’re here, we’re very well prepared and we’ll be very well prepared (Sunday). Our team has a lot of confidence but also, we’re not by any means a cocky team, we’re very humble. We have a quiet confidence about us, a ton of belief in each other.” Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe paced Canada with 18 on 7-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 5 boards. Miranda Ayim added 11 on 4-5 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 4 boards. Miah-Marie Langlois added 10 on 1-3 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 7 assists. Kia Nurse added 9 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Kim Gaucher added 9 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Lizanne Murphy added 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Katherine Plouffe added 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Tamara Tatham added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Natalie Achonwa added 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Nirra Fields added 2 and Michelle Plouffe 2, while injured Shona Thorburn did not play. Iziane Castro Marques paced Brazil with 15 on 5-16 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Gilmara Justina added 14 on 5-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 3 boards. Nadia Gomes Colhado added 14 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 5 boards. Taina Mayara Da Paixao added 7, along with 2 boards and 2 assists, Kelly Da Silva Santos 7, along with 4 boards, Debora Fernandes Da Costa 4, Patricia Teixeira Ribeiro 3, along with 2 assists, and Isabela Ramona Lyra Macedo 2, while Izabella Frederico Sangalli, Jaqueline De Paula Silvestre, Izabela Nicoletti Leite and Karina Da Silva Jabob were scoreless. Brazil hit 20-45 (.440) from the floor, 2-20 from the arc and 10-20 from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 27 fouls, 12 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
In the final, Canada earned an Olympic berth by dumping Cuba 82-66. Cuba leaned on its all-star centre Clenia Noblet and the hot hand of guard Leidys Oquendo to take an 18-10 lead in the first quarter. Canada fought back with a 14-0 run that stretched into the second quarter but Cuba kept the game close, trailing by just three with 1:18 left in the second period before Canada stretched their lead to 44-35 on a Katherine Plouffe putback at the buzzer. Cuba ripped off an 11-0 run take a 46-44 lead in the third quarter but Canada rallied to take a 65-54 lead after three quarters. With minutes to play, the fans began chanting “Rio, Rio, Rio,” while, on the bench, Kim Gaucher “started crying.” She told the Toronto Star “we were all looking around it was like, ‘Okay, focus, deep breaths, don’t start bawling yet.’ It was really a neat moment.” Gaucher told Sportsnet.ca that “it was exactly what I dreamed when [the crowd] was chanting at the end of the game. You’re trying hold back tears and keep composed because there are still 90 seconds left to play. I mean, what an unbelievable experience.” Coach Lisa Thomaidis said “we fired some shots out there that Canada’s coming, to know that we’re doing this so far in advance (of the Games), we get to tailor our training. There is something to winning this tournament, to being the gold medalists, to being the winner of the FIBA Americas. We’ve talked about it a lot, now we get to be in the conversation with some of the top teams in the world. We’ve shown we should be in that conversation.” Kia Nurse and Miah-Marie Langlois repeatedly broke down the Cubans off the dribble. “We saw the start of third quarter and the second half and we weren’t happy with it,” said Nurse, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, told the Star. “We tried to figure out how to get as much energy into each other as we could and it was a matter of getting the ball up and moving and running and doing what we do best.” Thomaidis said “this is the best team I’ve ever been a part of. The talent, the character the depth, the experience, the buy-in, the intelligence . . . it’s amazing to be part of.” Nurse told Sportsnet “we’re going to go to the Olympics [but] we don’t want to just be there. “We want to be up there on the podium … our veterans are the first ones to say: ‘We are going to get on that podium.’” Thomaidis said “it’s no accident we’re here. We’re very well prepared and we’ll be very well prepared [for the final] … but we’re not by any means a cocky team, we’re very humble, but we have a quiet confidence about us and there’s a ton of belief in each other based on what we’re seeing on the floor.” Nurse told the Edmonton Journal “it’s an incredible experience and our team was pumped about this. To be able to do it a year in advance and play as well as we did through the whole tournament was amazing. Edmonton really stepped up to the plate and came out and supported us every single day. We couldn’t be more thankful for that.” Kia Nurse paced Canada with 20 on 8-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Natalie Achonwa added 12 on 6-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 5 boards. Miah-Marie Langlois added 11 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 8 assists. Miranda Ayim added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards. Kim Gaucher added 8 on 0-2 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Tamara Tatham added 7 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Nirra Fields added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Lizanne Murphy added 4 on 1-2 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe added 2 on 0-1 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Katherine Plouffe added 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 8 boards and 2 assists. Michelle Plouffe was scoreless, while injured Shona Thorburn did not play. Canada hit 27-47 (.570) from the floor, 5-13 (.390) from the arc and 13-19 (.680) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 12 fouls, 15 turnovers, 5 steals and 3 blocks. Leidys Oquendo Valdes paced Cuba with 25 on 9-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Clenia Noblet Salazar added 16 on 7-0 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 10 boards. Yamara Amargo Delgado added 13 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 2 boards. Anisleidy Galindo Martinez added 4, Oyanaisy Gelis Gonzalez 4, along with 3 assists, Fransy Ochoa Iaguierdo 2, along with 2 boards, and Zuleira Aties Isaac 2, while Ineidis Casanova Gonzalez, Arlenys Romero Moinelo, Arlety Povea Chacon, Marlen Cepeda Valle and Suchitel Avila Cosanas were scoreless. Cuba hit 23-46 from the floor, 4-14 (.290) from the arc and 8-11 (.730) from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 18 fouls, 12 turnovers and 3 steals.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Kia Nurse (Canada); Tamara Tatham (Canada); Clenia Noblet (Cuba); Yamara Amargo (Cuba); and Melisa Gretter (Argentina).