ISTANBUL (Mar. 11, 2026) — Canada erased a 19-point deficit and briefly took the lead late in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell 71–69 to host Türkiye in its opening game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament on Wednesday at the Turkcell Basketball Gelişim Merkezi in Istanbul.

Bridget Carleton led all players with a game-high 24 points, adding three rebounds and two assists. Yvonne Ejim provided a major lift off the bench with 13 points and nine rebounds, shooting 5-for-8 from the field.

Canada found itself in an early hole as Türkiye extended its lead to 43–24 early in the second quarter before the Canadians responded with a 16–4 run to cut the margin to single digits.

“Obviously a tough game, but I’m proud of our fight and our resilience to get back into it,” said Carleton. “Shots weren’t falling in the first half and our offence was a little chaotic, but we stayed together, made it a game and gave ourselves a chance to win.”

Türkiye held the advantage in the paint, outscoring Canada 36–26 inside. Canada countered with strong perimeter defence and timely shooting, limiting Türkiye to just 2-of-16 (12.5 per cent) from three-point range while converting 8-of-22 (36.4 per cent) from beyond the arc. Bench production was even at 20 points apiece, with Ejim leading Canada’s second unit.

After trailing for nearly the entire contest, Canada finally moved in front with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter when Shaina Pellington finished a transition opportunity following a steal by Aaliyah Edwards, giving Canada a 64–63 lead.

Head coach Nell Fortner praised the team’s resilience in battling back from the early deficit.

“I was really proud of our effort to get back in the game,” said Fortner. “We got down 19 and it was a really physical battle to climb back into it, but we never lost our fight. That’s a really positive thing.”

With little time to dwell on the result, Canada will quickly turn its attention to its next matchup.

“We have to flush this quickly,” said Carleton. “We play again in less than 24 hours against a really good Hungarian team that just won today. We’ll learn from this and be better tomorrow. That’s the fun of these environments — we’ve been here before and we know how to respond.”

Canada returns to action Thursday against Hungary at 10:30 a.m. ET / 7:30 a.m. PT, live on TSN.