TENERIFE, ESP (September 22, 2018) - Canada's Senior Women's National Team defeated Greece 81-50 on Saturday evening, in their opening game of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018.

Click here for the box score.

Captain Kim Gaucher scored a game-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.  Nirra Fields and Kia Nurse added 13 points and 12 points, respectively.  Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe dominated the glass for Canada, grabbing a game-high eight rebounds, including five offensive boards, in the victory.  Evanthia Maltsi had a team-high 14 points for Greece.

After leading 23-10 after 10 minutes, Canada continued to dominate offensively in the second, scoring 28 points in the quarter and entered halftime with a 26-point advantage, 51-25.  Canada shot 53% in the opening half and showed no signs of slowing down in the third quarter.  

With a comfortable lead, Canada scored 15 points in each of the final two quarters on their way to the win.

Click here for the roster.

QUOTES

"I thought it was a great start and we came out with a lot of energy.  The first game is always an interesting one, I've kind of been waiting all summer for it but I thought we handled it well." - Kim Gaucher

"We got a lot of contributions from a number of different people.  We really wanted to push the pace today against them and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.  Certainly knocking down a lot of threes in the first half was helpful." - Lisa Thomaidis

UP NEXT

Following this victory, Canada will now play Korea on Sunday at 11:30 AM (6:30 AM ET) as the Group Phase of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 continues.

To stay updated on the Senior Women's National Team and the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018, follow Canada Basketball on Twitter.

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