SOPRON, Hungary — It wasn’t an easy game, and it wasn’t an easy one, but Canada’s women’s basketball team will travel to Paris for the upcoming Olympics.
Bridget Carleton led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds, but Canada lost a key game against Japan, 86-82, 2-1 on Sunday in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Canada lost to fourth-place Spain on Friday and opened with a win over host Hungary on Thursday, but could have advanced with a win.
But with three teams from the four-team tournament qualifying for the Olympics, Canada was able to advance thanks to Spain’s dramatic 73-72 come-from-behind victory over No. 19 Hungary late Sunday. . With Japan’s victory, Spain had already qualified.
“It’s a complete roller coaster to have your destiny in other people’s hands,” said Canadian forward Natalie Achonwa, who had 12 points and nine rebounds in Sunday’s loss.
“But when we were able to celebrate this moment together, knowing that our dreams and goals would survive into the next day and represent Canada in Paris in 2024, we were so excited.” Did.”
This will be Canada’s fourth consecutive Olympic appearance and the first time since 2000 that both the women’s and men’s teams have qualified for the Olympics.
For No. 5 Canada, Kayla Alexander had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Nyla Fields also had 17 points and seven rebounds.
Evelyn Mauri, who was named tournament MVP, and Mai Yamamoto each led ninth-place Japan with 21 points. Japan is the current Olympic silver medalist.
Victor Lapena, head coach of the Canadian national team, said, “First of all, congratulations to Japan.” “They are a great team. They played great today too and found solutions.
“We knew we needed 80 points to win this kind of game against Japan, because Japan scores so easily from different positions. A special congratulations to Evelyn Mauri today. I think she was the one who made the difference.”
The tournament was one of four qualifying competitions for the final 10 Olympic spots. The United States and France had already competed in these tournaments before.
Canada was in a close game against Japan for most of the game. The game consisted of 12 lead changes, with Canada leading by as many as two points and Japan leading by nine points.
The game was tied at 20-20 after the first quarter, with Japan leading 50-46 at the half. Japan held a 70-67 lead through three games.
Trailing 75-69 with 8:17 left in the fourth, Canada went on a 10-4 run thanks to a layup by Fields to tie the game with 4:36 remaining.
However, Japan caught up with a 6-1 run on Yamamoto’s layup with 41 seconds left.
“Japan is a really good team,” Carlton said. “We had a tough group. We lost two tough games to two really good teams. We fought hard and scored a lot of points, but Japan was really strong. is.
“They’re tough to guard, they have speed, and they shoot threes very well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2024.
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