Nurse gives Canada a shot in the arm
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GOLD: Sparkplug scores 33 points as hosts snap 20-year dry spell with victory over U.S.
TORONTO — Talk about rising to the occasion.
Nineteen-year-old superstar Kia Nurse was an unstoppable force as Canada’s rising women’s basketball program capped an unbeaten Pan Am Games tournament with an 81-73, gold-medal-clinching victory over the U.S. on Monday night.
The win snapped a 20-year drought between golds for the program — the only other one coming in the summer of 1995 at the FIBA Americas Tournament in Hamilton. About eight months later, Nurse was born in that same city.
On Monday, Nurse, a standout for the national champion Connecticut Huskies, was nothing short of spectacular, scoring 33 points in all, helping the Canadians fight back from a brutal first quarter and withstand a late American rally.
“It was definitely something I didn’t imagine,” said an ecstatic Nurse, holding up her gold medal for all to see. “I felt a little down in the warm-up today, a little energy-less, then I guess I chugged a Powerade; that must have helped. It was an incredible game.”
“Kia has a heart of a champion,” added head coach Lisa Thomaidis. “The biggest games, she rises to the occasion. She was unbelievable, just unbelievable.”
When it was all over, Raise A Little Hell played on the speakers, and that was exactly what this impressive team did over the past week, culminating in a victory dance.
Thomaidis had tried to temper expectations a tad before the tournament started, and getting in top form before next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Edmonton was a priority too, but “seeing the Americans” and meeting them head on in Toronto was always an equally important target.
After all, the Americans won’t be playing in Edmonton, having already secured a berth to Brazil, but the competition was watching what went on these past two weeks at the Pan Am Games.
Coming off solid recent showings in world championship and Olympic play, the Canadians were out to make a statement. And that they certainly did. The team’s depth and athleticism was at times overwhelming for opponents, who repeatedly crumbled under the pressure defence foisted on them by the fresher Canadians.
Playing at the former Maple Leaf Gardens — renamed the Ryerson Athletic Centre for these games — seemed fitting for the golden Canucks. After all, a native son — Dr. James Naismith — invented the game, and the first NBA contest took place at this arena.
Veteran Shona Thorburn said Nurse left her “speechless” with her play.
“I said to Kia, because she is one of the youngest on the team, I said, ‘You know I started playing for Canada Basketball when I was 14. I’m turning 33 and I’ve never had a gold medal around my neck,’” Thorburn said.
“And this is a huge tournament to do that at. We have another enormous tournament which is as important if not more important, in a couple of weeks, so this is just the beginning.”
Next stop, Edmonton, with some golden accessories packed along for the ride.