| FINAL STANDINGS 1. United States 2. France 3. Australia 4. Belgium 5. Spain 6. Serbia 7. Germany 8. Nigeria 9. China 10. Puerto Rico 11. CANADA 12. Japan | CANADIANS Natalie Achonwa (Guelph, Ont.) Kayla Alexander (Milton, Ont.) Laeticia Amihere (Mississauga, Ont.) Bridget Carleton (Chatham, Ont.) Shay Colley (Brampton, Ont.) Aaliyah Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) Yvonne Ejim (Calgary, Alta.) Nirra Fields (Montreal, Que.) Sami Hill (Toronto, Ont.) Kia Nurse (Hamilton, Ont.) Cassandre Prosper (Montreal, Que.) Syla Swords (Sudbury, Ont.) Víctor Lapeña – coach Steve Baur – associate Noelle Quinn – assistant Carly Clarke – assistant Murriel Page – assistant Kristina Alvero – manager Kristin Anstey – physician Tracy Blake – phyiotherapist Lauren Buschmann – director, sport science Nick DeAdder – video analyst Denise Dignard – executive vice-president Muad Issa – media attaché Michael MacKay – performance director Nate McKibbon – performance analyst Brandi Mills – manager Patrice Pepin – physiotherapist Matt Walker – media attaché | ||||||
| POOL A | SPN | SER | CHN | PUR | Record | ||
| Spain | —– | 70-62 | 90-89 | 63-62 | (3-0) | ||
| Serbia | 62-70 | —– | 81-59 | 58-55 | (2-1) | ||
| China | 89-90 | 59-81 | —– | 80-58 | (1-2) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 62-63 | 55-58 | 58-80 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL B | FRA | AUS | NIG | CAN | Record | ||
| France | —– | 72-79 | 75-54 | 75-54 | (2-1) | ||
| Australia | 79-72 | —– | 62-75 | 70-65 | (2-1) | ||
| Nigeria | 54-75 | 75-62 | —– | 79-70 | (2-1) | ||
| Canada | 54-75 | 65-70 | 70-79 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL | USA | GER | BEL | JPN | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 87-68 | 87-74 | 102-76 | (3-0) | ||
| Germany | 68-87 | —– | 83-69 | 75-64 | (2-1) | ||
| Belgium | 74-87 | 69-83 | —– | 85-58 | (1-2) | ||
| Japan | 76-102 | 64-75 | 58-85 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| QF | United States 88 Nigeria 74 |
| QF | Australia 85 Serbia 67 |
| QF | Belgium 79 Spain 66 |
| QF | France 84 Germany 71 |
| Semi | United States 85 Australia 64 |
| Semi | France 81 Belgium 75 |
| Bronze | Australia 85 Belgium 81 |
| Final | United States 67 France 66 |
In their opener, Canada was torched 75-54 by France. Point guard Shay Colley opened the scoring with an and-one but France countered with an 8-0 run by effectively attacking the paint. Canada rallied to knot the score at 10 on a driving Colley layup, a backdoor cut by Natalie Achonwa and a pair of free throws by Kia Nurse. Kayla Alexander notched a bucket in the blocks and a baseline jumper, while Aliyah Edwards came off the bench to make several exceptional defensive stops. Colley added a driving layup and Nirra Fields a bucket off a Bridget Carleton steal as Canada took an 18-15 lead after one quarter. Canada missed a raft of open looks as they suffered a nearly nine-minute scoring drought to open the second quarter, while France ripped off a 21-0 run. Carleton finally stemmed the bleeding with a driving layup but the damage was done as France took a 38-20 lead into the lockers. Canada briefly rallied within 13 in the third quarter but France kept draining treys and dominating the offensive glass as they rebuilt their lead to 53-36 heading into the final frame. France nailed a pair of treys to extend their lead to 23 early in the fourth quarter. Canada continued to turn over the ball against France’s pressure and rallied no closer than 16 as France coasted to the easy win. Canadian coach Víctor Lapeña said “in the first quarter, I think we were able to achieve the game plan, the defence we decided to play against them, and [we] knew the game. Everything was working. But then a couple of turnovers, three turnovers, we [gave] them six, seven points. Very easy, I think, very easy points for them. And then once they got the 10 points up, it was very difficult for us to go. But we won the third period, reduced the distance, we tried.” Kia Nurse said “they were pretty aggressive. They took away easy shots and being able to have the [right] timing on a lot of our offence, so we have to be a little bit stronger with the ball.” Shay Colley said “I think they just upped their pressure on the defensive end, and we didn’t capitalize on not turning the ball over and just playing Canada basketball. Every possession counts. We need to really take care of the ball. We have to box out and rebound, and again, just play together on the offensive side of the ball.” Bridget Carleton said “they pushed the ball and ran fast in lanes. We gotta be better than that; we are better than that. A lot of teams play that way, so we just gotta be better.” Nurse told Canadian Press that “(we) can’t turn the ball over. We let them get to their strengths in transition early in the game and that was a problem.” Colley said “I think their ball pressure just really frazzled us on the offensive end and we weren’t able to get as much shots up.” French star Gabby Williams said “we didn’t even realize (the 22-0 run). We didn’t even realize because it was really possession after possession. That showed us what we’ve been working on the last few months. … I think that’s a big reason why we had that run in the second quarter. Because the energy was really electric. And normally I don’t notice the crowd but today that’s pretty much all I noticed. It was really fun.” Marieme Badiane paced France with 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 6 boards. Gabby Williams added 12 on 5-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards, 8 assists and 5 steals. Marine Johannes notched 7 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc and 2 boards. Leila Lacan scored 7 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4 assists. Dominique Malonga added 7 on 3-4 from the floor and 1-2 from the line. Valerie Ayayi scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Alexia Chery added 5 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4 boards and 3 assists. Sarah Michel Boury scored 5 on 0-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Janelle Salaun added 5 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 boards. Romane Bernies scored 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 assists. Marine Fauthoux added 2 on 2-2 from the line, while Iliana Rupert did not play. France (coach Jean Aime Toupane, assistant Catherine Melain, assistant David Gautier) hit 30-70 (.429) overall, 22-39 (.564) from the floor, 8-31 (.258) from the arc and 7-10 from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 20 fouls, 10 turnovers, 9 steals and 5 blocks. Kia Nurse paced Canada with 11 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 2-3 from the line. Shay Colley added 11 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 3 boards and 6 assists. Bridget Carleton notched 8 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 8 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Sami Hill scored 7 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Kayla Alexander added 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 10 boards. Natalie Achonwa scored 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Syla Swords added 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Nirra Fields scored 2 on 1-5 from the floor. Aaliyah Edwards added 1 on 0-2 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 8 boards, while Laeticia Amihere and Cassandre Prosper were scoreless. Yvonne Ejim did not play. Canada hit 17-53 (.321) overall, 12-35 (.343) from the floor, 5-18 (.278) from the arc and 15-20 from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 15 fouls, 25 turnovers, 5 steals and 4 blocks.
Canada fell to (0-2) after being clipped 70-65 by Australia. Canada again struggled to contain the penetration dribble, steadfastly ignored their defensive box-outs, shot poorly from the free throw line and repeatedly gifted Australia with casual turnovers. Australia led 18-16 after one quarter. Bridget Carleton notched her third trey of the game to give Canada a 21-18 lead. Kayla Alexander garnered an and-one to give Canada a 4-point lead. Back-to-back buckets for Australia tied the game at 24. Stephanie Talbot hit a bucket to give Australia a two-point lead. With the score knotted at 27, Talbot drove for a layup, Marianna Tolo notched a bucket in the paint and Talbot scored on a backdoor cut. Aaliyah Edwards responded with a layup and Kayla Alexander scored in transition after an Edwards steal before Cayla George drilled a trey at the buzzer to give Australia a 38-32 lead at the half. Australia extended its lead to 7 as Melvin kept breaking Canada down with the penetration dribble. Carleton drilled another trey and Syla Swords drove for a layup to draw Canada within 46-44 but Isobel Borlase and Sami Whitcomb drove for layups as Australia closed out the frame with a 5-0 run to take a 51-44 lead. Natalie Achonwa missed four free throws and turned over the ball as Australia extended the margin to 55-44. As Canada’s scoring drought neared 7 minutes, Sami Hill finally stemmed the bleeding with a trey. But Kayla George nailed a baseline jumper and a trey to give Australia a 62-49 lead. Carleton hit a fallaway floater and a driving layup as Canada countered with a 6-0 run but it was too little too late as Tolo notched an and-one and a layup off an inside feed from Talbot as Australia put the game well out of Canada’s reach. A late 7-0 run made the final score marginally respectable. Bridget Carleton said “I think we had some good moments offensively and got some good moments defensively, but I think over the course of the 40 minutes, we needed to be more locked in against a really good Australian veteran team who knows how to play basketball the right way. Some lapses here and there, and that’s what the difference was today.” Natalie Achonwa said “the grit that we played with, the pride that we played with… our first showing wasn’t us, and we know that we represent so much more when we put a Canada jersey on, and so I was really proud of how we came out today and how we fought. We had some lapses in execution, but no matter what, the grit that we play with is truly who we are and I’m glad that we showed that today. … In a tournament like this, points matter,” Achonwa said. “And so we were going to, regardless of whether it was a win or loss, we knew we had to keep it close. So that’s what we did. We weren’t going to quit. We went from 12 points to five points. So it’s a point spread when it gets close to it. So I’m just glad that we locked in, and we were really aware of that the whole time.” Coach Víctor Lapeña said “I think we did a great job in all of our rules except one, in defence. But I’m very proud of how my athletes led today. Some young players played good minutes. We are building the future of this program, and the veterans were able to come back into the game and to lead the last minutes to still be alive in this tournament, and for that reason, I’m very, very proud of them.” Kayla Alexander told Canadian Press that “I felt like we played hard. It was disappointing, the ending, because we were right there. I felt like at the end, though, we gave it our all, just trying to close that gap and get that W. Unfortunately, we fell a little short, but I felt like we gave it our all and that we were relentless to the last second.” Lapena said “I think we did a great job in all of our roles except in one, in defence. I think this is the key. We need more than 65 points with Australia. We need more than 70 or 75 points to beat France. We’re working really hard. What [the players have] is all my confidence.” Achonwa said “you can’t miss four free throws. In a tight game you can’t miss four free throws. I think that’s where I was really hard on myself, because I’m better than that. But there’s other ways that I know I contributed to the game and it’s not points. … At the end of day, we play a kids’ game for a living. And to know that we’re here representing Canada, we do that regardless of the score, regardless of the outcome. We do that with how we show up and how we continue to show up and how I know that if I leave everything on the floor. And if I play how I played today, if we play with grit and fight like we know that we can, I’d be proud to look any Canadian face and say that I represented you well.” Sami Whitcomb paced Australia with 19 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 5 boards, 10 assists and 2 steals. Stephanie Talbot added 11 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 6 assists. Marianna Tolo notched 11 on 5-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Cayla George scored 11 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Ezi Magbegor added 10 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 assists. Jade Melbourne scored 4 on 2-6 from the floor and 0-2 from the arc. Tess Madgen added 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards. Isobel Borlase scored 2 on 1-6 from the floor and 3 boards, while Lauren Jackson, Kristy Wallace, Amy Atwell and Alanna Smith were scoreless. Smith nabbed 5 boards and pilfered 3 balls. Jackson nabbed 3 boards. Australia (coach Sandy Brondello, assistant Cheryl Chambers, assistant Paul Goriss, assistant Shannon James Seebohm) hit 29-61 (.480) overall, 23-46 from the floor, 6-15 (.400) from the arc and 6-8 from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 23 fouls, 20 turnovers, 9 steals and 5 blocks. Bridget Carleton paced Canada with 19 on 2-5 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc, 8 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kia Nurse added 12 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 6-6 from the line and 2 boards. Kayla Alexander notched 10 on 3-7 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Shay Colley scored 9 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-6 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Sami Hill added 5 on 0-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Natalie Achonwa scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-4 from the line, 6 boards, 7 assists and 4 steals. Aaliyah Edwards added 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 steals. Syla Swords scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor, while Cassandre Prosper, Laeticia Amihere, Yvonne Ejim and Nirra Fields were scoreless. Amihere nabbed 2 boards. Canada hit 21-60 (.350) overall, 14-45 (.310) from the floor, 7-15 (.470) from the arc and 16-24 (.670) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 14 fouls, 16 turnovers, 12 steals and 3 blocks.
Canada closed out pool play by being outclassed 79-70 by Nigeria. The standard array of Canadian flaws – turnovers, failure to box out on the defensive boards, a lack of footspeed, dismal shooting, casual ballhandling and dull decision making – were again on full display during the loss. Nigeria led 12-2 early. The score was knotted at 18 after the first quarter. Kayla Alexander ignited an 11-0 run by Canada as Shay Colley hit a pair of back-to-back threes and Alexander completed a three-point play to give Canada 37-28 lead before Ezinne Kalu rallied Nigeria to within 41-37 at the half. The wheels quickly fell off in the third quarter as Nigeria opened the frame with a 16-1 run. Canada failed to score for six minutes, when Laeticia Amihere hit a free throw, and failed to notch a bucket for seven minutes, when Kayla Alexander collected a layup. Nigeria led 60-46 after three quarters and by as many as 17 before a late Canadian spurt made the final score more respectable. Canadian coach Víctor Lapeña said “congratulations to Nigeria, they [played] very well during all three days with a lot of energy. We were not able to recognize this moment, to keep our mind calm and find solutions. We found some solutions later and we beat them in two periods and tied in the first period.” Bridget Carleton said “it’s hard. I mean, you look forward to this for four years, three years, I guess [since Tokyo]. It’s emotional. It’s the peak of athletics, the peak of representing your country at the highest level and you want to do the best you can. Disappointed in how it ended.” Natalie Achonwa said “it’s been a hell of a journey. It’s been a hell of a journey. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’ve said since I was 16 years old that these are some of the best women, best people I have ever had the pleasure of being around, being a part of. And it’s not the way that I would like to go out on the court, but I know that I’ve said this over and over. It’s never about the outcome, it’s about the journey. These are the people that you invite to your weddings, that you invite [to] your baby showers that my son will know for the rest of his life. It’s bigger than basketball and when I take this jersey off, I hope that I left it better than I found it and that everyone back home knows that every time I put it on, I did it with the utmost amount of pride and passion and can’t wait to see who’s next going to be wearing it after me. And I hope that they can carry it forward and that they can leave it better than I left it. … [It has meant] so much more than myself, so much more than my family. The name on the back, it’s all about that name on the chest and people from all over Canada. I hope that I did it justice. I hope that I made you proud. I did it with everything that I had for 16 years.” Ezinne Kalu paced Nigeria with 21 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Elizabeth Balogun added 14 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 4 boards. Promise Amukamara notched 12 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 6 assists and 5 steals. Nicole Enabosi scored 9 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Amy Okonkwo added 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Murjanatu Musa added 7 on 2-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards, while Tomi Taiwo, Lauren Ebo, Ifunanya Okoro, Blessing Ejiofor and Adebola Adeyeye were scoreless. Ejiofor nabbed 2 boards. Nigeria (coach Rena Wakama, assistant Wani Muganguzi, assistant Abi Olajuwon) hit 30-67 (.450) overall, 25-54 (.460) from the floor, 5-13 (.380) from the arc and 14-17 (.820) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 23 fouls, 19 turnovers, 16 steals and 4 blocks. Shay Colley paced Canada with 17 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 steals. Bridget Carleton added 13 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-10 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Kayla Alexander notched 12 on 4-7 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Laeticia Amihere scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 11 boards. Aaliyah Edwards added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-6 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Natalie Achonwa scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Cassandre Prosper added 4 on 2-2 from the floor, 2 boards and 2 assists. Syla Swords scored 4 on 2-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Sami Hill added 3 on 0-1 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc, while Nirra Fields, Kia Nurse and Yvonne Ejim were scoreless. Fields nabbed 4 boards and Nurse 2. Canada hit 25-68 (.370) overall, 20-42 (.480) from the floor, 5-26 (.190) from the arc and 15-22 (.680) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 17 fouls, 26 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks.
A draw determined the quarterfinal pairings. Qualifying teams were divided into 4 pots. Pot D comprised the top two-ranked first-placed teams from the group phase (United States and Spain). Pot E comprised the lowest ranked first-placed team and the best-ranked second-placed team from the group phase (France and Serbia). Pot F comprised the remaining second-placed teams from the group phase (Germany and Australia). Pot G comprised the two best third-placed teams (Belgium and Nigeria). Teams from the same group were precluded from playing one another.
The all-tournament team (as selected by FIBA) featured MVP A’ja Wilson (United States); Breanna Stewart (United States); Gabby Williams (France); Alanna Smith (Australia); and Emma Meesseman (Belgium).
The 2nd-team featured: Ezinne Kalu (Nigeria); Julie Vanloo (Belgium); Satou Sabally (Germany); Valeriane Ayayi (France); and Ezi Magbegor (Australia).