Amihere and Brown pace Canada over China

UDINE, ITALY — Canada has clinched a spot in the semifinals of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball women’s U19 World Cup.

Laeticia Amihere of Mississauga scored 21 points to lift the Canadians to a 68-65 victory over China in Friday’s quarter-finals. Hailey Brown of Hamilton grabbed 13 rebounds. The Canadians will face Russia on Saturday. China cut the Canadians’ 10-point lead to just two over the game’s final 30 seconds before Canada sealed the victory.

“We talked a lot about weathering the storm and playing through adversity,” said Canadian team coach Carly Clarke.

“I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure when China got off to a hot start.”

This will mark just the second tournament semifinal berth for Canada’s under-19 women’s team. In 2009, the squad finished fourth overall.

The victory over China comes on the heels of the Canadian men’s team winning gold at its U19 World Cup in Cairo, the country’s first world basketball title ever.