LIMA, PERU (August 8, 2019) – Team Canada fell to Puerto Rico 63-72 on Thursday evening to conclude the Preliminary Round at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. They will now take on Argentina tomorrow for fifth place.

Click here for the box score.

Captain Jamie Scott had a team-high 16 points and five rebounds for Canada in the loss. Shaina Pellington added 14 points and five rebounds of her own, while Alyssa Jerome finished with a game-high 7 rebounds. Jazmone Gwathmey had a game-high 22 points for Puerto Rico in the win.

Canada opened the quarter 4-0, but shortly after, Puerto Rico began to chip away at the small Canadian lead and was up 14-9 halfway through the frame. By the end of the quarter, Puerto Rico was up 26-17.

The second quarter was low scoring for both teams. Canada scored 11 points while Puerto Rico scored just three more, 14. Despite Canada’s efforts, Puerto Rico entered the halftime up 40-28.

Starting the second half looking to bounce back, Canada worked hard to chip away at the lead. With just 0:35 seconds to go, Samantha Hill hit a two-point shot that put Canada just five points down. Puerto Rico soon answered back and they ended the quarter up 52-45.

Canada refused to go away attempting to make a fourth-quarter comeback. Just three minutes into the game the comeback looked attainable as Scott made it a two-point game. Though Puerto Rico stretched the lead once quickly after. The Canadians continued to hang around but despite their efforts, Puerto Rico moved on with the 72-63 victory.

Canada qualified for Lima 2019 with a gold medal at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2017.  The field for the 2019 Pan American Games basketball competition includes the top six teams from the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017 (Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Brazil, U.S. Virgin Islands, Paraguay and Colombia), along with Olympic champion, United States, and the host country, Peru.

The Pan Am Games basketball competition does not have a direct impact on qualification for Tokyo 2020 but will serve as an important step in preparing for the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2019 in September as Canada begins the qualification process for the Olympic Games.

Lima 2019, which will run from July 26 to August 11, will bring together approximately 6,700 athletes from 41 nations of the Americas and feature 62 disciplines in 39 sports. It will be the largest sporting event ever held in Peru.

Click here for the roster.

QUOTES

"Today was tough. Obviously, we got off to a bit of a slow start in the first quarter and allowed them to get 26 points. I thought we did a great job battling back throughout the game. We continued to do a great job on the glass getting ourselves extra opportunities. I thought we fought for a position where we had earned more shots, got to the line a bit more and had an opportunity to be in that game, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t convert. Tomorrow we get a chance to go back out and play another great opponent in Argentina. It’s another chance for us to wear the jersey and represent the country so we’re looking forward to that. It’s a quick turnaround so we’ll get ourselves out from the gym now and get focused for the opportunity ahead.” – Steve Baur

“It was a hard-fought game. I think Puerto Rico came out and made a lot of shots so we were down early. We fought hard to get back but it just wasn’t enough. They hit big shots down the stretch and we came up just short today. We play a good Argentina team tomorrow so we just have to bounce back and rebound and know that it’s going to be a hard-fought game but try to end this tournament with a win.” – Jamie Scott

UP NEXT

Canada will play Argentina on Friday at 2:30 pm ET for fifth place. Fans can watch live action from the Pan Am Games in Lima live on CBC Sports.

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