LOGRONO, SPAIN – Canada finished off their second of two exhibition games this weekend with a loss against Spain, 66-46.
Through the first two quarters of play, Canada showed great effort on both ends of the court against one of the top ranking teams in Spain, down 37-31 at halftime. Katherine Plouffe (Edmonton, AB) poured in 10 points and Nirra Fields (Brampton, ON) had 6 points at the break.
In the 3rd quarter, Spain put the pressure on Canada defensively, forcing turnovers and increasing their lead to 51-36.
Canada would fight hard in the 4th but were unable to rally, losing to the home country Spain, 66-46.
Katherine Plouffe (Edmonton, AB) put together another strong outing for Canada, finishing with 17 points (7/12 FG), 8 rebounds and 2 assists, while Kim Gaucher (Mission, BC) provided 8 points and 7 rebounds of her own.
"Tonight was another tough game against one of the top teams in the world on their home soil”, said Lisa Thomaidis, Head Coach. “They showed us why they are ranked what they are on the world scene. Though we battled hard and had a pretty good first half, defensively we were not on the same page. Spain plays with a lot of speed and tempo and has a number of weapons we had to be concerned about. Katherine Plouffe had another tremendous game for us. She's been a model of consistency. Lots of lessons learned again today and heading into world's we couldn't have asked for a better preparation than this. We've played all the top teams in the world now, probably 1 through 11. It's only going to bode well for one week from now when we take on Mozambique in our first game."
"This game was a great test against one of the top teams in the world”, said Mission, BC native Kim Gaucher. “We started out slow in the second half and had a few too many turnovers. It's a great learning experience, especially for our two young point guards, it's really invaluable. Heading into world's we have one more scrimmage to get our stuff together and we are looking forward to Turkey and getting started."
Canada will now travel to Turkey next week to take part in the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women from Sept. 27th to Oct. 5th.
2014 FIBA World Championship for Women (All games broadcast live on NBATV)
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <b><span>September 2014</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <b><span>Event:</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <b><span>Location</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <span>27</span><sup><span>th</span></sup></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <span>Game 1 (Preliminary Round - Group B)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span><span><span> <span> Vs. Mozambique, 7AM (ET)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <span>Ankara, Turkey</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <span>28th</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <span>Game 2 (Preliminary Round - Group B)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span><span><span> <span> Vs. Turkey, 12PM (ET)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <span>Ankara, Turkey</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <span>30th</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <span>Game 3 (Preliminary Round – Group B)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span><span><span> <span> Vs. France, 2:15PM(ET)</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <span>Ankara, Turkey</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <b><span>October 2014</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <b><span>Event:</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <b><span>Location</span></b></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="98"><span><span> <span>1-5th</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="242"><span><span> <span>Advancing Rounds - TBD</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> <td width="106"><span><span> <span>Istanbul, Turkey</span></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Full box score for Canada vs. Spain: http://baloncestoenvivo.feb.es/Game/1380687