| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Cuba 2. Brazil 3. CANADA 4. Argentina 5. Puerto Rico 6. Dominican Republic | CANADIANS Chelsea Aubry (Oshawa, Ont.) Claudia Brassard (Kuala Lampur, Malaysia) Amanda Brown (Montreal, Que.) Kaela Chapdelaine (Montreal, Que.) Dawn Cressman (Guelph, Ont.) Carolyn Ganes (Saskatoon, Sask.) Isabelle Grenier (Charny, Que.) Nikki Johnson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) Teresa Kleindienst (Mission, B.C.) Kim Smith (Mission, B.C.) Tammy Sutton-Brown (North York, Ont.) Sheila Townsend (Maple Ridge, B.C.) Allison McNeil – coach (Salmon Arm, B.C.) Mike McNeill – assistant (North Delta, B.C.) Lisa Thomaidis – assistant (Dundas, Ont.) Anne Marie Thuss – manager (Hamilton, Ont.) Joan Mlynarczyk – physiotherapist (Toronto, Ont.) Ira Smith – physician (Toronto, Ont.) |
| ROUND ROBIN | CUB | BRZ | CAN | ARG | PUR | DOM | Record | ||
| Cuba | —– | 81-73 | 73-61 | 89-88 | 84-54 | 94-47 | (5-0) | ||
| Brazil | 73-81 | —– | 76-64 | 86-69 | 83-67 | 92-46 | (4-1) | ||
| Canada | 61-73 | 64-76 | —– | 77-57 | 83-81 | 89-57 | (3-2) | ||
| Argentina | 88-89 | 69-86 | 57-77 | —– | 91-73 | 96-54 | (2-3) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 54-84 | 67-83 | 81-83 | 73-91 | —– | 94-55 | (1-4) | ||
| Dominican Republic | 47-94 | 46-92 | 57-89 | 54-96 | 55-94 | —– | (0-5) | ||
In the opener, Cuba dumped Canada 73-61. Canada shot poorly and was extremely prone to turnovers.
Suchitel Avila Cosanas paced Cuba with 17 on 4-7 from the arc and 3-3 from the line. Yayma Boulet Peillon added 14 on 7-12 from the floor and 6 boards. Yakelyn Plutin Tizon notched 11 on 3-8 from the floor, 5 boards and 4 assists. Yamara Amargo Delgado scored 11 on 4-8 from the line and 4 boards. Oyanaisy Gelis Gonzalez added 6, Cariola Hechavarria Garcia 5, Yamile Martinez Calderon 4, Taimara Suero Coronado 3, Licet Castillo Iglesia 2, Arlenys Romero Moinelo 0 and Clenia Noblet Salazar 0. Cuba shot 20-45 (.440) from the floor, 8-18 (.440) from the arc and 9-15 (.600) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 16 fouls, 18 turnovers, 10 steals and 2 blocks. Isabelle Grenier led Canada with 11 points on 3-8 from the arc. Tamara Sutton-Brown added 9 on 3-6 from the, 3-5 from the line and 4 boards. Carolyn Ganes added 8 on 2-3 from the arc. Amanda Brown scored 7 on 3-3 from the floor. Claudia Brassard-Riebesehl added 7 on 3-5 from the floor. Teresa Kleindienst added 7 on 2-5 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Nicole Johnson added 3, Kaela Chapdelaine 3, Chelsea Aubry 2, Sheila Townsend 2, Kim Smith 2, while grabbing 6 boards, and Dawn Cressman 0. Canada shot 17-37 (.460) from the floor, 6-22 (.270) from the arc and 9-14 (.640) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 17 turnovers, 21 fouls and 5 steals.
Canada whipped Argentina 77-57 to improve their record to (1-1). Canada jumped out to a strong start opening the game with an 11-0 run, led by a pair of treys from Kim Smith. Solid defense by the Canadians led to a number of Argentinean turnovers and helped Canada to a 23-13 first quarter lead. Smith and Isabelle Grenier scored back-to-back three-pointers to open the second period of play but Canada struggled offensively as Argentina applied full court pressure. Argentina outscored Canada 18-17 in the quarter, but trailed 40-31 at halftime. Tammy Sutton-Brown led the Canadian attack in the third quarter, establishing Canada’s inside game and helping build a 13-point lead at the 8:45 mark of the period. Argentina once again moved to a full-court pressure defense, but the Canadians maintained their composure and built an 18-point advantage before Argentina went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter. Canada led 57-45 going in the final stanza of play. Canada continued their strong inside out offensive game and hindered Argentina’s attack with a zone defense in the fourth quarter. This resulted in Canada continuing to pull away from their opponents, outscoring them 20-12 in the quarter and finishing the game with a 20-point margin of victory. “The team came focused to play today,” said coach Allison McNeill. “Our defence took Argentina out of what they wanted to do and they had to move to their second and third options. We had great scoring from the beginning of the game and that really helped our confidence.” Grenier noted that “we wanted to start off strong and we did that right in the beginning offensively. This was a good team effort, being able to go inside and outside with our scoring.” Kim Smith paced Canada with 22 points on 2-7 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 9-14 from the line and 5 boards. Isabelle Grenier added 21 on 3-6 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 3-5 from the line. Tamara Sutton-Brown notched 11 on 5-5 from the floor, 8 boards and 3 blocks. Teresa Kleindienst scored 8 on 2-5 from the floor, 7 boards and 4 assists. Chelsea Aubry scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 4 boards. Kaela Chapdelaine added 4, Dawn Cressman 3 and Carolyn Ganes 2, while Sheila Townsend, Amanda Brown, Claudia Brassard-Riebesehl and Nicole Johnson were scoreless. Canada shot 17-36 (.470) from the floor, 8-13 (.620) from the arc and 19-30 (.630) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 23 fouls, 19 turnovers, 5 steals and 4 blocks. Veronica Soberon led Argentina with 13 on 4-8 from the floor. Carolina Sanchez Valencia added 9 on 2-3 from the floor and 5-9 from the line. Marcela Paoletta added 8 on 2-5 from the arc, while Maria Landra scored 6 on 2-8 from the floor and 5 boards. Maria Lineira added 5, Laura Nicolini 4, Sandra Pavon 4, Alejandra Chesta 2, Maria Fernandez 2, Mariana Cava 2, Analia Palacios 2 and Paula Gatti 0. Argentina shot 16-38 (.420) from the floor, 5-19 (.260) from the arc and 10-21 (.480) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 25 fouls, 17 turnovers and 9 steals.
Brazil dumped Canada 76-64 as Canada dropped to (1-2). Canada started the game aggressively, opening the match with a 9-2 run and successfully moving the ball inside to Tammy Sutton-Brown. Brazil however, closed the gap later in the quarter, and led 21-14 at the end of the first stanza. Canada played a strong second quarter, shifting to a zone defense, which caused problems for Brazil. This ignited an 11-0 run by Canada, which resulted in the Canucks outscoring Brazil 22-14 in the quarter and taking a 36-35 lead heading into the second half of play. Kim Smith opened the third quarter scoring with a three-pointer and combined with Sutton-Brown for Canada’s first nine points in the period. Canada had problems finding their shooting stroke however, resulting in Brazil regaining their lead, with the score, 57-52, at the end of three quarters. Canada continued to struggle with their shooting in the fourth quarter. Coupled with a large number of turnovers in the period, Canada allowed Brazil to go on a 10-2 run and build a deficit they could not recover from. “I thought we played really well tonight,” said coach Allison McNeill. “We handled Brazil’s pressure well, but down the stretch we missed some shots. We also had too many turnovers resulting in 13 steals by Brazil.” Smith said “it was a disappointing loss. We thought we had them but down the stretch we did not convert our opportunities.” Micaela Jacintho paced Brazil with 27 on 9-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 steals. Erika De Souza added 15 on 7-10 from the floor, 4 steals and 8 boards. Graziane De Jesus Coelho notched 8 on 3-4 from the floor and 6 boards. Vivian Lopes scored 8 on 2-6 from the floor. Ilisaine David scored 7, Lilian Lopes Goncalves 5, Silvia Gustavo Rocha 5, Tayara Maria De Jesus Pesenti 2, Fabiana Catunda Manfredi 0, and Soeli Garvao Zakrzeski 0, while dishing 6 assists. Brazil shot 25-64 (.540) from the floor, 5-14 (.360) from the arc and 11-16 (.690) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 19 fouls, 12 turnovers, 13 steals and 2 blocks. Tamara Sutton-Brown led Canada with 25 points on 11-15 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Kim Smith added 15 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 4 assists. Teresa Kleindienst added 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 6 boards and 6 assists. Isabelle Grenier scored 5 on 1-7 from the arc. Sheila Townsend scored 4, Amanda Brown 4, Chelsea Aubry 3, Dawn Cressman 1, Claudia Brassard-Riebesehl 2, Nicole Johnson 1, Kaela Chapdelaine 0 and Carolyn Ganes 0. Canada shot 20-36 (.560) from the floor, 4-21 (.190) from the arc and 12-18 (.670) from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 21 fouls, 20 turnovers and 4 steals.
Canada
nipped Puerto Rico 83-81 to even their record at (2-2). Both teams got off to a
slow start offensively, with the score 7-6 in favour of the Puerto Ricans at
the midway point of the first quarter. Canada found their touch from the
perimeter however, as the quarter wore on and lead 26-21 at the end of the
period. Canada got into foul
trouble against the smaller and quicker Puerto Rican side, resulting in 10 of Puerto
Rico’s 21 first quarter points coming off free throws. Puerto
Rico took advantage of a sluggish Canadian offence in the second
quarter, building an 11-point lead, its largest of the game, at the 7:04 mark.
However, with 5:14 remaining in the period, play was stopped for 22 minutes due
to a window in the stadium that was leaking water from the
rainstorm outside onto the playing surface. When play resumed, Canada
cut the Puerto Rican lead four points to make the score 38-34 at halftime. Canada’s
carried its strong play from the end of the second quarter into the third
stanza. Theresa Kleindienst opened the period with a three-pointer and helped Canada to an 8-0 run to turn its four-point
halftime deficit into a three-point lead by the end of the period as Canada
led 63-60. Kleindienst continued to spark Canada’s offence in the final
stanza along with the inside game of Tammy Sutton-Brown. The fourth quarter was
a tight-fought affair, with Canada
leading Puerto Rico, 81-78, with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Puerto Rico called a time-out and then drained a
three-pointer to tie the game at 81 with six seconds remaining on the clock. Canada
then inbounded to Kleindienst, who took the ball up court and hit a pull-up
jumper to win the game as the buzzer sounded. “Puerto Rico played me
aggressively,” stated Kleindienst. “I just tried to match their aggressiveness
and penetrate with the ball to create opportunities for myself and my teammates
tonight.” Coach Allison McNeil noted that “Puerto Rico came out tonight and made
some great shots. They had great performances from some of their players. I
thought we were fatigued tonight. The heat over the past few days took a lot
out of us and affected our performance. I also thought we defended well and
handled the adversity in this game by regrouping despite the rain delay, foul
trouble and numerous turnovers. Puerto Rico is
a quick team and applies a lot of ball pressure.” Teresa Kleindienst paced Canada
with 24 on 6-10 from the floor, 9-13 from the line and 5 assists. Tamara
Sutton-Brown notched 24 on 8-9 from the floor, 8-14 from the line, 6 boards and
2 blocks. Kim Smith scored 19 on 6-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 4
boards. Isabelle Grenier notched 8 on 2-6 from the arc and 4 boards. Chelsea
Aubry added 4, Claudia Brassard-Riebesehl 2 and Nicole Johnson 2, while Sheila
Townsend, Kaela Chapdelaine and Amanda Brown were scoreless. Canada shot 22-35
(.630) from the floor, 4-13 (.310) from the arc and 27-39 (.690) from the line,
while garnering 30 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 26
fouls, 23 turnovers, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Milagro Martinez paced Puerto Rico with 24 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the
arc, 8-12 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Cynthia Valentin added 18 on 4-10
from the floor, 7-9 from the line and 5 boards. Juanita Rivera Llanos scored 10
on 5-9 from the floor. Pamela Rosado Roman added 7, Felicity Willis Otero 7,
Lindsay Gonzalez 6, Esmary Vargas Sanchez 5, Zoennis Pallens Perez 2, Leslie De
Jesus Rivera 2 and Karen Colon Dides 0. Puerto Rico shot 20-45 (.440) from the
floor, 7-21 (.333) from the arc and 20-28 (.710) from the line, while garnering
28 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 30 fouls, 16
turnovers and 8 steals.
Canada stomped the Dominican Republic 89-57. With the win, Canada qualified for the 2006 Worlds. “We are very happy to have qualified for the World Championship and it will be good to get back playing on the world stage again,” said forward Claudia Brassard. Canada opened the game against the Dominican Republic on a 10-0 run with Isabelle Grenier accounting for half of Canada’s points. Canada finished the quarter with a 20-15 lead. Canada went on another 10-0 run to finish the second quarter and built a 48-27 halftime lead. The Canadians continued to take the game to the Dominican Republic in the third quarter, building a 30-point lead before an 8-0 run by the Dominicans made the score 70-44 at the end of three periods. Canada built a 35-point lead in the fourth quarter and went on to win by a 32-point margin. “Tonight, was a great opportunity for some of the younger players to get a lot of minutes and they really stepped up,” said coach Allison McNeill. “We are very excited about having qualified for the FIBA World Championships here.” Kaela Chapdelaine paced Canada with 12 on 3-4 from the arc. Kim Smith added 10 on 5-6 from the floor. Claudia Brassard-Riebesehl notched 10 on 3-5 from the floor, 4-5 from the line and 6 boards. Dawn Cressman scored 10 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. Chelsea Aubry scored 8 on 4-6 from the floor. Carolyn Ganes scored 8 on 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Isabelle Grenier scored 6 on 2-3 from the arc. Nicole Johnson added 6 on 2-3 from the floor. Teresa Kleindienst notched 5, Amanda Brown 5, Tamara Sutton-Brown 5 and Sheila Townsend 4. Canada shot 24-47 (.520) from the floor, 9-20 (.450) from the arc and 14-18 (.780) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 19 fouls, 15 turnovers, 6 steals and 7 blocks. Andreina Paniagua Cuevas paced the Dominican Republic with 18 on 2-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 8-9 from the line and 6 boards. Jessica Mercado added 16 on 6-15 from the floor and 4-6 from the line. Jennifer Estrella Diaz added 8 on 3-8 from the floor. Wanda Gomez Peguero notched 8 on 3-9 from the floor and 8 boards. Melisa Santos Segura added 3, Charlenny Frias Henriquez 2 and Laritza Diaz Pena 2, while Liannet Montilla, Indhira Ramirez, Delisa Rivas Mendez, Johanna Morton Gautreaux and Escarlin Moquete Roa were scoreless. The Dominican Republic shot 17-50 (.340) from the floor, 2-9 (.170) from the arc and 17-25 (.680) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 4 assists, 18 fouls, 13 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block.