Canadian women’s basketball team loses, 73-56, to China in friendly
GUANGZHOU, CHINA — Canada’s women’s basketball team dropped a 73-56 decision to China in its four-game Asian exhibition series.
Ruth Hamblin scored a teamhigh 15 points in 28 minutes for the Canadians, who are 0-2 on the tour.
The Canadians are without their Women’s National Basketball Association players for the series, which is part of preparations for the FIBA women’s World Cup, which is in Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain.
“It’s always a great opportunity to play China, especially in China,” said Canadian forward Miranda Ayim.
“They turned up the defensive pressure early in the game and, in doing so, showed us what we need to work on going forward. Regardless of the result, I feel we built on what we learned in the first game and will bring these lessons on the road with us to Japan.”
China led 20-12 after one quarter, and went into halftime up 35-29.
Canada tied with four minutes left in the third quarter, and went into the fourth trailing 49-45.
“Tonight had some positive elements we can take forward with us,” said coach Steve Baur. “We were better defensively than last game and gave ourselves a chance versus a good team. We also learned some valuable lessons around our execution versus ball pressure that we want to take forward to Japan as we continue to grow.”
The Canadians now travel to Japan for two games against the Japanese on Sunday and Tuesday.