Canada shocks France, advances to quarters
If there’s one thing Lisa Thomaidis knows above all else, it’s that her team does not quit and revels in a good fight.
When things were going sideways in an important preliminary round game at the world basketball championships on Tuesday, the Canadian women’s coach proved her knowledge to be astute.
Down double digits a handful of times, unable to make a layup or a free throw and throwing the ball over the gym like it was a piece of radioactive matter, Canada relied on its mental toughness and inner resolve to beat France 71-60 and advance to the quarterfinals of the global championships unfolding in Tenerife, Spain.
“They were in a fight, they’re not going to lay down,” Thomaidis said.
They were, they didn’t and now they are one win away from having a shot at Canada’s first world championship medal since 1986.
Against the archrivals from France, much the same group that knocked Canada out of the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Canadians struggled from the opening tip.
They trailed 25-12 after a quarter, committed 10 first-half turnovers and were down 10 at the intermission. Then something twigged, they started making shots and getting stops and pulled away for the win to give them first place with a perfect 3-0 record in their preliminary round.
Canada saw a five-point lead disappear early in the fourth quarter and could have folded at that point. But after a timeout at 55-55 with about five minutes left in the game, they went on a 15-0 run over a fourminute span to put the game away.
“We just said it wasn’t a great (first) half, but we liked what we were getting, we had shots at the rim, free throws, layups,” Thomaidis said.
“It was all there for us, we just needed to actually convert. I thought we settled into our defence a little bit more, I thought we were way more aggressive, defending the ball a little bit better, Kia (Nurse) got some steals and deflections. It wasn’t a matter of changing anything, it was just a matter of playing our game.”
Nurse, of Hamilton, finished with 18 points and six assists to lead Canada, while Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe of Toronto had13 points and world championship debutante Shay Colley of Mississauga had 12. The win gives Canada two days off before facing either Spain or Senegal in Friday’s quarterfinal. Spain suffered a surprising first-round loss to Belgium on Tuesday to finish second in its pool despite being heavy favourites. The loss raised a few eyebrows because it also kept Spain from having to face the United States before the gold-medal game.
“They lost? To who? Smart,” Nurse said. “For us it’s going to be a matter of coming out and executing through whatever we need to. I think a lot of us are fortunate to have played in situations where maybe we’re not the favourite in the gym, and it’s just a matter of trying to make sure we focus on us.”
Said Thomaidis: “Whatever happens with the other teams is up to them. They can worry about that. We wanted to worry about this game here. We have a lot of history with France and knew it was going to be a tough game.
“At the end of the day, you have to win every single game.”